Transmission of Values Within Families in Romania
Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades des Doktors der Naturwissenschaften an der Universität Konstanz im Fachbereich Psychologie
vorgelegt von
Mihaela Friedlmeier
Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 23. Juni 2006 Referentin: Prof. Dr. Gisela Trommsdorff Referent: Prof. Dr. Werner Georg
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a grant from Landesgraduiertenförderungsgesetz Baden-Württenberg for the first two years and a grant from Frauenrat, University of Konstanz for the third year. In preparing this work I have been helped and encouraged by many friends and colleagues who have given most generously of their time and thought. To all of them I am deeply grateful. I am grateful to Prof. Dr. Gisela Trommsdorff who brought me to the idea of conducting this dissertation research and continuously stimulated my interest for cross-cultural research. She guided this work through all its steps. I am also thankful for giving me the permission to use many instruments from the “Value of Children and Intergenerational Relations” Project that is carried out at the Department of Developmental Psychology and Cross-Cultural Psychology. Many thanks are due also to Prof. Dr. Werner Georg who accepted to provide expertise for this dissertation as a second advisor. I am especially indebted to Wolfgang Friedlmeier. He has read through drafts of every chapter and has made a large number of valuable comments and suggestions. His efforts stimulated me to rethink various aspects of social change and intergenerational transmission, to carry out new analyses, and sometimes even to change my mind. He also provided me invaluable moral support and encouragement, without which I could not have finished this demanding task. My thanks are also due to Beate Schwarz who encouraged me throughout the preparation and production of this work. I am also deeply thankful to Jing Chen, my colleague from Grand Valley State University, who carefully read this work and gave very helpful suggestions how to improve the level of English language of this dissertation. Appreciation is expressed to my colleagues from the Department for Developmental Psychology, Isabelle Albert and Boris Mayer. Particularly important, my appreciation goes to the teachers and students from the participating schools to whom I thank for their cooperation and interest. Last, but not least, I deeply appreciate the unconditioned support of my parents and close friends in the adventurous journey of writing the dissertation.
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Summary
Cultural continuity is a question of transmission, the passing on of values and knowledge from one generation to the next, from individual to individual (e.g., Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman, 1981). According to the current socialization theory it is acknowledged that intergenerational transmission is a very complex process that does not happen in a direct way but rather occurs under specific conditions that enhance or hinder the transmission (e.g., Grusec & Goodnow, 1994). There are only a few studies that have investigated such conditions. An important goal of the current study was to test some of those conditions for the value transmission from parents to adolescent children. Effects of parenting and relationship between parents and children on the transmission of values and self-construal were studied here. The extent to which parents are similar in the way they appreciate the values and the self-construal may have an influence on the children’s orientations as well. Since this study was carried out in Romania, a country that has undergone through significant social changes, the societal-historical context was also taken into account. This context affords an expansion of the question about transmission of values to the question of commonalities and differences between generations. From a psychological perspective, this context is addressed in this study by analyzing how parents and children perceive the social changes, and whether this perception has an impact on the value transmission. 100 Romanian families were included in the study. Standardized separate interviews were conducted with mothers and fathers whereas the children filled out a questionnaire in the classrooms. The children (48 boys and 52 girls) were between 14 and 17 years old. The interview consisted of several instruments that were mostly taken from the Value of Children and Intergenerational Relation project (Trommsdorff & Nauck, 2001). The values of individualism and collectivism were assessed with COLINDEX (Chan, 1994). A short version of Singelis’ (1994) Self-Construal Scale was used to measure the independent and interdependent self- construal. The relationship quality between parents and children was measured by the Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI) (Furman and Buhrmester, 1985) and the parenting style by the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ) as well as the Control-Supplement (Rohner, Rohner, & Roll, 1980). Further, the Perception of Social Change instrument developed by Noack, Hofer, Kracke, Wild and Boehnke (1997) was utilized to measure the way people vi experienced the transformations occurring after the upheaval. The results showed that the social change affected the parent and child generation in a different way and that psychological characteristics are important resources that lead to less negative perceptions of the social change. Generation differences were seen for individualistic and collectivist values and especially for the self-construal. These differences also appeared within families. Such results confirm the social change that has occurred in the postcommunist Romania. The results for the transmission of values and self-construal showed that the direct transmission between parents and offspring was rather weak and limited only to the collectivist values. In the light of the societal changes, however, this result is not surprising. The study also shows that parenting and the relationship quality between parent and child have a strong effect on adolescents’ values and self-construal. Parents who are supportive and have a positive relationship to their children were more likely to encourage the child to appreciate collectivist values (i.e., to give priority to the family over other purposes, and to feel themselves as strongly related to their family). Although both boys and girls were affected, the influence was stronger in the case of daughters. The moderation effects were found mostly for individualism and independent self-construal and especially in the father-daughter dyads. These findings confirmed the complex characteristics of the transmission process and the necessity to consider a broader range of aspects that foster or hinder such a transmission. This study also shows that father and mother in relation to son and daughter contribute in a differential way. It is important for future studies to take these specific dyads for transmission analyses into account. vii
Zusammenfassung
Kulturelle Kontinuität ist eine Frage der Transmission, der Weitergabe von Werten und Wissen von Generation zu Generation, von Individuum zu Individuum (z. B. Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman, 1981). In der Sozialisationsforschung wird anerkannt, dass intergenerationale Transmission ein komplexer Prozess ist, der nicht nur unmittelbar erfolgt, sondern bestimmten Randbedingungen unterliegt, die förderlich oder hinderlich sind (z. B. Grusec & Goodnow, 1994). Es gibt bislang nur wenige Studien, die solche Bedingungen untersuchen. Ein wichtiges Ziel dieser Studie war es, einige solche Randbedingungen für Wertetransmission von Eltern auf ihre Kinder empirisch zu testen. Effekte der Erziehungs- und Beziehungsmerkmale der Eltern und Jugendlichen auf die Transmission von Werten und Selbstauffassungen wurden untersucht. Es wurde auch geprüft, ob das Ausmaß, in dem die Eltern in ihren Werthaltungen und Selbstauffassungen übereinstimmen, einen Einfluss auf die Transmission nimmt. Da diese Studie in Rumänien durchgeführt wurde, ein Land, das durch einen starken sozialen Wandel gekennzeichnet ist, wurde hier der gesellschaftlich-historische Kontext berücksichtigt. Dieser Kontext macht eine Erweiterung der Fragestellung der Transmission von Werten auf die Frage nach Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschieden der Generationen notwendig. Aus psychologischer Sicht wird der gesellschaftlich- historische Kontext in Form der Wahrnehmung des sozialen Wandels auf Seiten der Individuen und der möglichen Auswirkungen dieser Wahrnehmung auf die Wertetransmission analysiert. 100 rumänische Familien nahmen an der Studie teil. Standardisierte Interviews wurden getrennt mit Vater und Mutter durchgeführt, während die Jugendlichen einen Fragebogen in Gruppensitzungen an den jeweiligen Schulen ausfüllten. Die Kinder (48 Jungen und 52 Mäd- chen) waren zwischen 14 und 17 Jahre alt. Das Interview setzte sich aus verschiedenen Instru- menten zusammen, die zum großen Teil aus dem Value of Children Projekt (Trommsdorff & Nauck, 2001) entnommen wurden. Die individualistischen und kollektivistischen Werte wurden anhand des COLINDEX (Chan, 1994) erfasst. Eine Kurzversion der Selbstauffassungsskalen von Singelis (1994) wurde zur Erfassung der Independenz und Interdependenz eingesetzt. Die Bezie- hungsqualität zwischen Eltern und Jugendlichen wurde anhand des Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI) (Furman and Buhrmester, 1985), der Erziehungsstil mit dem Parental Accep- tance-Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ) sowie dem Control-Supplement (Rohner et al., 1980) viii erfasst. Schlieβlich wurde die Wahrnehumng sozialer Veränderungen anhand des Fragebogens von Noack, Hofer, Kracke, Wild und Boehnke (1997) erhoben. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der soziale Wandel die Eltern- und die Kindgeneration in unterschiedlicher Weise betrifft und dass psychologische Merkmale wichtige Ressourcen sind, die zu weniger negativen Wahrnehmungen des sozialen Wandels beitragen. Sowohl für die Werte, aber vor allem für Selbstauffassung traten Generationseffekte auf. Die Unterschiede zeigten sich auch innerhalb der Familie. Dies macht auch deutlich, dass sich im postkommunistischen Rumänien ein sozialer Wandel vollzieht. Die Ergebnisse zur Transmission von Werten und Selbstauffassung zeigen, dass die direkte Transmission zwischen Eltern und Kindern eher gering war und sich ausschlieβlich auf kollekti- vistische Werte bezog. Angesichts der gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen ist dieses Ergebnis nicht überraschend. Allerdings konnte auch nachgewiesen werden, dass elterliches Erziehungsverhal- ten und die Beziehungsqualität zwischen Eltern und Kind einen starken Effekt auf die Werthal- tungen und Selbstauffassungen der Jugendlichen ausüben. Eltern, die unterstützend sind und eine positive Beziehung zu ihren Kindern haben, fordern die Haltung der Kinder, der Familie Vorrang gegenüber eigenen Bedürfnissen zu geben (kollektivistische Werthaltungen) und die Kinder füh- len sich stark mit der Familie verbunden (Interdependenz). Auch wenn Effekte für beide Geschlechter auftraten, so waren die Effekte für Töchter insgesamt weitaus stärker. Moderierende Funktion der Erziehungs- und Beziehungsvariablen auf den Transmissionsprozess zeigte sich vor allem für individualistische Werte und Independenz, und dies vor allem in Vater-Tochter-Dya- den. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen insgesamt den komplexen Charakter des Transmissionsprozesses und die Notwendigkeit, einen breiteren Bereich von Aspekten zu berücksichtigen, die diese Transmission fördern oder hemmen kann. Diese Arbeit macht auch deutlich, dass Vater und Mutter in Abhängigkeit von Sohn oder Tochter einen differentiellen Beitrag zur Transmission leisten. So ist es wichtig, in zukünftigen Studien diese geschlechtsspezifischen Dyaden ebenfalls einzubeziehen. ix
Content
INTRODUCTION 1
1 ROMANIA IN THE OLD AND NEW SOCIAL ORDER 11
1.1 History of Romania: A Short Overview 12
1.2 The Romanian Family in Different Eras 14 1.2.1 The Moldavian family during the 17th and 18th century 14 1.2.2 The modern and contemporary Romanian family (1821-1944) 15 1.2.3 Romania under communism (1944 - 1989) 18
1.3 “Post-Modernity” in Romania 23 1.3.1 Changes at the macro-level in the post-communist Romania 23 1.3.2 Axiological uncertainty in the post-communist Romania 24 1.3.3 Relevance and personal meaning of social change for the individual: Generations and gender difference 25 1.3.4 The consequences of social change for individuals and family relationships 27
2 CULTURE AND INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT 33
2.1 Relation Between Culture And Individual 33 2.1.1 Definitions of culture 33 2.1.2 Two theoretical approaches linking culture and individual: Ecological model and developmental niche 34
2.2 The Dimensionalist Approach in Studying Cultures 37 2.2.1 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions 38 2.2.2 Schwartz’s cultural dimensions 39 2.2.3 Values in Triandis’s perspective 40 2.2.4 Inglehart’s cultural dimensions 41 2.2.5 Values: from cultural dimensions to individual orientations 42 2.2.6 Individualism and collectivism – one or two dimensions? 43 2.2.7 Collectivism and individualism as dimensions of social change at the cultural and individual level 44
2.3 Independent and Interdependent Self-Construal 47 2.3.1 Culture and self-construal 47 2.3.2 The self: one dimension or two? 49 2.3.3 Self-Construal, Social Change and Intergenerational Differences 50
2.4 Values and Self-Construal in the Post-Communist Romania 52 2.4.1 Characteristics of Romanians’ values and self-construal after 1989 52 x
2.4.2 Value orientations of Romanian adolescents 55
2.5 Summary and Hypotheses 57
3 PARENT-CHILD RELATIONS AND INTERGENERATIONAL VALUE TRANSMISSION 59
3.1 Intergenerational Value Transmission 59 3.1.1 Characteristics and processes of cultural transmission 59 3.1.2 Intergenerational value transmission: a theoretical framework 62 3.1.3 Approaches to intergenerational values transmission 66 3.1.4 Intergenerational values transmission: empirical studies 68 3.1.5 Hypothesis with regard to direct transmission 74
3.2 Parents-Adolescent Relationship 76 3.2.1 The role of mother and of father for adolescents’ development 76 3.2.2 Theories on father’s and mother’s contribution to child’s development 77 3.2.3 Distinctive features of mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationship 78
3.3 Moderators of the Intergenerational Values Transmission 83 3.3.1 Parenting style 83 3.3.2 Parenting and relationship quality as moderators of the intergenerational value transmission 86 3.3.3 Parents’ values agreement as a moderator of the value transmission 88 3.3.4 Perception of the social change and the intergenerational value transmission 89 3.3.5 Direct effects of parenting and parent-child relationship quality on adolescents’ values and self-orientation 90
4 SUMMARY OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES 93
5 METHODS 97
5.1 Sample 97 5.1.1 Recruitment 97 5.1.2 Description of the sample 98
5.2 Instruments 100 5.2.1 Individualist/collectivist values 101 5.2.2 Independent/interdependent self-construal 101 5.2.3 Quality of relationship with parents 102 5.2.4 Perception of social change 103 5.2.5 Parenting Style 104 5.2.6 Life satisfaction 104 5.2.7 Socio-demographic variables used for further analyses 105 xi
5.3 Procedure 106 5.3.1 Questioning of adolescents 106 5.3.2 Interviewing the parents 106 5.3.3 The course of the interview 107
5.4 Data analysis 107
6 RESULTS 109
6.1 Preliminary Analyses 109 6.1.1 Socio-demographic variables and values/self-construal 109 6.1.2 Factor analyses for life satisfaction 111
6.2 Perception of Social Change 112 6.2.1 Intergenerational and gender differences 112 6.2.2 Intergenerational similarities within the family 115 6.2.3 Consequences of the Social Change 116 6.2.4 Summary of results about perception of social change 118
6.3 Values and Self-Construal 119 6.3.1 Intraindividual relations between the values and the self-construal 119 6.3.2 Intergenerational gap 121
6.4 The Transmission of Values and Self-Construal from Parents to Children 127 6.4.1 Direct transmission 128 6.4.2 Direct effects of relationship quality and parenting on values and self- construal of adolescents 130 6.4.3 Moderators of the intergenerational value transmission 137
7 DISCUSSION 153
Appendix 187
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List of Tables
Table 1 Means, Standard Deviations and Exploratory Factor Analysis of Life Satisfaction for all Samples 111 Table 2 Intergenerational Comparison of Perceived Social Changes 113 Table 3 Means and Standard Deviations for Social Change 114 Table 4 Intercorrelations for Perceived Social Changes 115 Table 5 Intercorrelations for Adolescents’ Values and Self-Construals 120 Table 6 Intercorrelations for Parents’ Individualism/Collectivism and Self-Construals 120 Table 7 Cohort Comparisons of Values and Self-Construal 123 Table 8 Within Family Comparisons for Values and Self-Construals 125 Table 9 Means and Standard Deviations for Value Items 126 Table 10 Correlations between Children’s and Parents’ Values and Self-Construal 129 Table 11 Hierarchical Regression Analyses. Parenting Predicting Daughters’ Individualism/Collectivism 130 Table 12 Hierarchical Regression Analyses. Relationship Quality to Parents Predicting Daughters’ Individualism/Collectivism 131 Table 13 Hierarchical Regression Analyses Summary for Parents’ Parenting Predicting Daughters’ Self-Construal 132 Table 14 Hierarchical Regression Analyses Summary for Relationship Quality to Parents Predicting Daughters’ Self-Construal 133 Table 15 Hierarchical Regression Analyses Summary for Parent’ Parenting Predicting Sons’ Interdependence and Collectivism 134 Table 16 Hierarchical Regression Analyses Summary for Relationship Quality to Parents Predicting Sons’ Interdependence and Collectivism 135 Table 17 Standardized Coefficients for Regressions Examining Interactions of Mother’s and Father’s Values/Self-orientations With Parenting Styles to Adolescent’s Values and Self-Orientations 139 Table 18 Standardized Coefficients for Regressions Examining Interactions of Mother’s and Father’s Values/Self-Construals with Relationship Quality to Adolescent’s Values/Self-Construals 144 Table 19 Standardized Coefficients for Regressions Examining Interactions of Mother’s and Father’s Values/Self-Construals with Social Life to Adolescent’s Values/Self- Construals 150 xiv
List of Tables Annexes
Table 1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of the Sample 187 Table 2. Correlations Between Sociodemographic Variables for Mothers 187 Table 3. Effects of Educational Level of Mothers on their own Values 188 Table 4. Correlations Between Sociodemographic Variables for Fathers 188 Table 5. Effects of Educational Level of Fathers on Their Values 189 Table 6. Correlations for Sociodemographic Variables for Children 189 Table 7. Effects of Educational Level of Mothers on Adolescents’ Values 190 Table 8. Effects of Educational Level of Fathers on Adolescents’ Values 190
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems (from Kopp, 1982, p. 648) 35 Figure 2: The Model of Transmission from Parents to Children 93 Figure 3: Intergenerational Differences on Individualism/Collectivism 122 Figure 4: Intergenerational Differences on Self-Construal 123 Figure 5: Transmission of Individualism from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Control from Fathers 138 Figure 6: Transmission of Independence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Acceptance from Fathers 138 Figure 7: Transmission of Independence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Rejection from Fathers 140 Figure 8: Transmission of Interdependence from Mothers to Daughters Moderated by Control from Mothers 140 Figure 9: Transmission of Individualism from Fathers to Sons Moderated by Acceptance from Fathers 141 Figure 10: Transmission of Interdependence from Fathers to Sons Moderated by Rejection from Mothers 142 Figure 11: Transmission of Independence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Admiration 143 Figure 12: Transmission of Independence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Conflict with Fathers 143 Figure 13: Transmission of Interdependence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Intimacy 143 Figure 14: Transmission of Individualism from Fathers to Sons Moderated by Conflict with Fathers 145 Figure 15: Transmission of Collectivism from Mothers to Daughters Moderated by Parental Agreement on Collectivism 146 Figure 16: Transmission of Interdependence from Fathers to Sons Moderated by Parental Agreement on Interdependence 146 Figure 17: Transmission of Individualism from Mothers to Daughters Moderated by Social Life 148 Figure 18: Transmission of Independence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Social Life 148 Figure 19: Transmission of Collectivism from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Social Life 149 Figure 20: Transmission of Interdependent Self-construal from Fathers to Sons Moderated by Social Life 151
Introduction
The main purpose of this work is to examine the transmission of values and self-construal from parents to adolescent children by taking relationship characteristics and cultural settings into account. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Romania, a country facing enormous and diverse changes since the breakdown of the communism in 1989. Although the issues of bi- directionality are already well acknowledged in the parent-child relationships literature (e.g., Kuczynski, 2003), the current investigation focuses on values as vertically transmitted contents from parents to children (labeled here as intergenerational value transmission). Children are considered to play an active role in the process of value transmission, and this is highlighted in this work by measuring the influence of moderator variables on the value transmission, variables such as parenting style and parent-child relations, both seen from the child’s perspective. Moreover, an area of studies which received less attention is that a successful socialization process does not only include direct transmission of parental values to their children but that children additionally acquire values from their parents’ behaviours. But what are values? According to Schwartz, values are defined as desirable transsituational goals, varying in importance, that serve as guiding principles in the life of a person or social entity (Rokeach, 1973; Schwartz, 1994). Values are used as criteria to select and justify actions and to evaluate people and events. Values are considered the hard core of culture (Phalet & Schoenpflug, 2001). Whereas some authors emphasize the stable character of values over time (Hofstede, 2001; Schwartz, 1994), others argue in favor of the changing character of values over generations, such as the shift from traditional values to modern values, and from modern to postmodern values (Inglehart, 1997). Apart from values, the transmission of the self-construal from parents to adolescents is considered in this study. The self-construal describes the way a person perceives himself/herself in relation to the social environment (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). It always embraces the whole person and is highly relevant for the person’s identity. Self-construal is taken into account because it has been documented that certain cultural norms (e.g., individualistic or collectivist norms) provide different developmental pathways (Greenfield, 1994; Greenfield, Keller, Fuligni, & Maynard, 2003) for the self-construal (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). This suggests that values and self-construal are related with each other. Despite the relations between values and self- 2 Introduction construal, both concepts also show different qualities in relation to the person. Values can be important for an individual’s identity, but they can also deviate since they represent more abstract cognitive representations. They may be less anchored in the person’s identity and may be more relevant for a specific domain but not others. Values can also change over time, whereas the self- construal is seen as rather stable. A person with an independent self-construal may find it even difficult to take the perspective of a person with an interdependent self-construal whereas it is easier to understand that people prefer other values. The self-construal has direct implications for cognitions, motivations, and emotions (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Abstract values may sometimes even show inconsistency with specific behaviors. Cultural continuity is possible only through cultural transmission from generation to generation or from individual to individual. Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman (1981) as well as Boyd and Richerson (1985) were the first to use the term “cultural transmission” in their attempt to make it parallel to the notion of biological transmission. Cultural transmission is generally understood as the transmission of knowledge, values, and other factors that influence behaviors from one generation to the next. Three forms of transmission are usually mentioned in the literature, namely vertical transmission (from parents to offspring), oblique transmission (from other adults to the developing person), and horizontal transmission (from peers to the developing person). The optimal amount of transmission permits both novelty and stability, suggesting thus hat it is not an absolute process (Valsiner, 1988). As briefly mentioned earlier, this study focuses on vertical transmission of values within Romanian families with adolescent children. Furthermore, different studies differentiate between absolute and selective transmissions (Rohan & Zanna, 1996), whereas others between absolute and relative transmissions (Vermulst, de Brock & van Zutphen, 1991). Selective transmission means for example that some values will be more transmitted from generation to generation than others whereas relative transmission means that characteristics will be transmitted to some extent within the family but under the influence of social-cultural and historical conditions changes are observed too (Vermulst et al., 1991) (see 3.1.1 for more details). According to a developmental psychologist perspective, the concept of intergenerational transmission refers to the transfer of knowledge and values among generations that are biologically related (Trommsdorff, in press). As often emphasized in the socialization literature, including the most recent Handbook of socialization (Grusec & Hastings, 2007), parents are the Introduction 3 most important socialization agents influencing children’s development. One of the elements of socialization is the acquisition of a culture’s standards, attitudes, and values (Grusec, 2002). This leads to the ideas that parents are seen as the transmitters of the culture’s values to their children. The concept of transmission from parents to children is also introduced and discussed in the literature as intergenerational agreement, intergenerational congruence or intergenerational similarity. Although not completely identical, these labels will be used interchangeably throughout this work. However, transmission in the sense of a process where parents get “something across”—can only be studied in longitudinal research where the process of value socialization is accompanied by the researchers (Vollebergh, Iedema, & Raaijmakers, 2001). Often, value transmission is studied by comparing the values of the parents with the values of the children (e.g., Schönpflug, 2001; Whitbeck & Gecas, 1988). However, these studies show overwhelmingly low to moderate parent-child value transmission scores (e.g., Gecas & Seff, 1990) which may be interpreted as markers for non-successful value transmissions The process of transmission is a complex one and the influence of parents on the development of children’s values may be moderated by certain conditions referred to as transmission belts, such as the quality of the parent-child relationship (Schönpflug, 2001). These transmission belts are conditions which may facilitate or hinder value transmissions (e.g., Schönpflug, 2001). The direct transmission of values between parents and their children has been studied in a variety of domains, with results varying considerably and sometimes contradictory. Especially longitudinal studies report stronger transmission. For instance, the study conducted by Kohn, Slomczynski, and Schoenbach (1986) reports moderate to strong correlations with regard to self- direction and conformity to external authority in the U.S. and Poland. Another longitudinal study also provided some support for the transmission of attitudes toward the private domain and the economic domain, and attitudes toward ethnic minorities in a representative sample in the Netherlands (Vollebergh et al., 2001). In contrast, cross-sectional studies either low or no transmission at all. For example, Looker and Pineo (1983) found no significant associations between the values of adolescents and their parents, namely the values of self-direction and conformity. Finally, some studies report modest transmission. For example, Gecas and Seff (1990) showed that adolescents and their parents have similar beliefs about the importance of hard work, about the educational and occupational ambitions, and about the personal characteristics that they consider as important. Albert (2007) 4 Introduction found low to moderate mother-child similarities in Germany and France with respect to individualistic, collectivistic, and family values, and the interdependent self-construal. Boehnke (2001) reported modest correlations between the values of conservation vs. openness to change of adolescents and those of their mothers and fathers in the former East Germany. The heterogeneity of the findings may have different theoretical and methodical explanations. On the one side, one can assume that the strength of transmission is related to the research design. Strong support was found in longitudinal studies and less support in cross- sectional designs. The current study uses a cross-sectional design and can not clarify this point. It is also plausible that the content/object of transmission (specific attitudes and beliefs vs. abstract values) as well as the specific relationship characteristics regarding the involved persons affect the strength of transmission. These last issues are studied in more details in the following. As mentioned earlier, from a socialization perspective, value transmission occurs in the family where the parents play the role of primary socialization agents (Furstenberg, 1971; Grusec & Hastings, 2007; Kuczynski, Marshall, & Schell, 1997). One criticism brought to the traditional socialization view is that it overlooks internal dynamics within the relationship. The child has been regarded as a passive recipient of the parental influences with almost no consideration for the interaction between parent and the child. An important progress from the traditional view was made by Grusec and Goodnow (1994). They proposed a model of internalization, a two-step explanation of how similarity or dissimilarity in values is achieved across generations: (1) the child’s perception of the parents’ message (this could be accurate or inaccurate), and (2) the child’s acceptance or rejection of the perceived parents’ message. Dissimilarity could emerge either from inaccurate perception or from rejection. Each step was also likely to be influenced by different conditions, such as the clarity of the parent’s message for the first step and the warmth of a relationship for the second. The empirical studies stimulated by this new model of internalization often neglected context conditions that were also mentioned by Grusec and Goodnow (1994). Surprisingly, still little is known about the conditions that foster internalisation of parental values and beliefs. In the current study, variations in several family processes (relationship quality, parenting, parent’s values agreement) and their links with similarity in parent-offspring values and self-construal are carefully examined. The central hypothesis focuses on the impact of parent-child relationship quality on adolescents’ adoption of their parents’ values and self-construal. Introduction 5
According to the traditional developmental perspective, value similarity between parents and their offspring is a result of direct value transmission by parents through a successful socialization process (e.g., Erikson, 1950). But, the adoption of parental values may not always be what the parents expect. Goodnow (1994) wrote about “acceptable disagreement” between parents and children instead of treating any lack of agreement across generations as conflict or unsuccessful socialization. From her perspective, the agreement is not the only good outcome, because there are situations when the parents regard the difference as unimportant, tolerable, acceptable or even pleasing. Other researchers (Kuczynski & Kochanska, 1990) have explored similar questions (e.g., whether noncompliance is always dysfunctional, when is non-compliance regarded as a source of concern, and when is even encouraged by the parents as a sign for demonstrating autonomy). These issues are of particular relevance for the current study where the transmission of values was examined in a country going through abrupt changes. Up to now the focus was on transmission from parents to children in general. It is necessary for such a study to consider all four different dyads (mother-daughter, mother-son, father- daughter, and father-son). The gender issue was neglected in many studies on value transmission. This fact points to a shortcoming. Most of the studies examined the transmission from mothers to children. Although not consistent, some studies found high correlations between mothers’ values and fathers’ values and consequently, they were then treated as a unity. However, similar values between the parents do not mean that they have similar influence on the children’s values (Boehnke, 2001). During adolescence, differential changes in the relationship of girls and boys with their mother and father may occur (e.g., Youniss & Smollar, 1985), an aspect that make it crucial to take the gender of the child as well as the gender of the parent into account for the analysis of the transmission process, especially when parenting and quality of parent-child relationship are tested as moderating variables. These shortcomings were addresses in this study by examining the transmission of values taking the gender of the parent and of the child into consideration. Beside the lack of consideration of the gender issue in previous research, a further shortcoming in value transmission studies is the neglect of societal context conditions. Most of the studies were conducted in Western countries with relatively stable socio-economic conditions that represent a relatively stable societal background. The current study was carried out in post- communist Romania, a country that experienced enormous changes after 1989. Here, the impact 6 Introduction of social change is examined in two ways: (1) using the parent-child similarity in the perception of social change as a moderator for the value transmission and (2) based on the impact of the social change on the parent-child relationship quality and life satisfaction. There are only few theoretical frameworks that apply to human development in times of social change. One of them is the ecological systems approach (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1989, 1993), which assumes that the developing person is situated in the center of and embedded in several environmental systems, ranging from immediate settings, such as family, to larger and more complex systems, such as culture. Bronfenbrenner proposed four interacting systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. Changes in one system lead to changes in all the other systems. Thus, changes of political structures, institutions, material resources, opportunity structures, shared knowledge and cultural beliefs (the macrosystem) produce changes in the individual and the relations between the individuals. In times of social change, the relations between generations may become looser as depicted in the following:
“Unsere gemeinsame Geschichte endete an dem Tag, als die Mauer fiel: Sie ängstigten sich um Ihre Jobs, wir suchten uns das passende Gymnasium ... Sie ließen sich scheiden, wir überlegten, ob wir das Austauschjahr in Amerika schon jetzt machen sollten oder erst im Studium ... Da gab es keine Gemeinsamkeiten. Sie redeten kaum über ihr Leben, wir gar nicht über das unsere. Ihre Erfahrungen schienen nutzlos geworden, nutzlos für uns jedenfalls, sodass wir gut auf sie verzichten konnten.” (J. Hensel, Zonenkinder, 2002, p. 76-77)
This book passage refers to the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the reunification of Germany and is important because it addresses two essential questions of this work: first, to what extent younger and older generations hold the same views of events in times of massive societal transformations, and second, to what extent is the basic tenet of socialization theory assuming that the child’s core value orientations are learned in the family (Clausen, 1974) still valid in a context of abrupt social changes. The breakdown of the communist system in Eastern European countries has aroused the interest of (mainly) European psychologists in studying the psychological consequences of these dramatic societal changes (e.g. Oswald, 1992; Sahner, 1995; Trommsdorff, 1995; Youniss, 1995). This transformation implies changes at macro- and micro-levels. It has been often Introduction 7 indicated that the transition from communism to democracy is related to the transformation of two types of factors: institutionally “hard” components (e.g., the new institutions, the market economy) and socio-culturally “soft” components (attitudes, values, norms, behaviors). The current study focuses on the “soft” components in the transformation process. After 1989, people from Romania suddenly found themselves in an axiological vacuum, rejecting what was good before, but without having a clear understanding and knowledge of what is good for the coming future. The demands and opportunities of the new system raise questions of how younger and older people are affected socially and psychologically and whether their development is compromised or enhanced by the changing societal context. Thus, a generation gap can be expected in the current study: the parents generation examined here have grown up in an autocratic social system while their children were socialized under conditions influenced by the transition from a centrally planned toward a market-type economy. Despite the strong transformation that has occurred in the post-communist Romania and based on the socialization theory as presented earlier, it was expected in this study that parents’ values and self-construal play an important role in the formation of values and self- construal of their children. A strong transmission, however, was not expected. A stronger transmission was expected only after consideration of certain family characteristics (parent-child relationship quality, parenting style, parents’ agreement, and perception of the social change). Besides studying the generation gap and transmission of values and self-construal from parents to children in the contexts of the ongoing social changes that takes place in Romania and various moderating variables (e.g., parenting style), two other (secondary) purposes were pursued here. First, it was aimed to capture the way older and younger generations experience the changes that have occurred in their country since the upheaval. Second, an attempt to elucidate the relation between the subjective experience of social changes and the quality of the parent-child relationship as well as the life satisfaction was made. To summarize, the current work has three main purposes, which are listed here in order of relevance: a) To investigate the transmission of values and self-construal from parents to children by taking relationship and individual characteristics into account; also, the direct influence of parent- child relationship on the acquisition of values among adolescents is studied.
8 Introduction b) To examine the intergenerational gap with respect to values and self-construal as a consequence of the new demands associated with the modernization of the Romanian society; c) To test if younger as compared to older generations and female as compared to male participants perceive the changes in the post-communist Romania in a different way. Related to this aim, it was attempted to analyse the association between the perception of social change and the quality of the relationship between parent and child as well as life satisfaction. The current work is organized as follows. The first chapter presents an overview of the Romanian history, culture, and politics and provides background information for later topics. More specifically, the Romanian way of life within and outside the family since the 17th century is briefly introduced. A special focus is the impact of the communist system on family functioning and the values of the people living in such circumstances. This is followed by a discussion of the impact that the social changes occurring after the breakdown of communism have on families in particular and society in general. Two research issues are addressed in this chapter, namely the differential impact of social changes on the two generations (middle-aged adults and adolescents), and the examination of the role of the perception of the social changes on family relationships and life satisfaction. This chapter also served for indirectly framing the societal conditions of the families examined here concerning values and value transmission. Chapter two addresses the topic of generation gap with respect to values and self-construal in the context of social change. The dimensionalist approach on cultures is introduced, with short presentations of the works by Hofstede, Triandis, Schwartz, and Inglehart. A description of the self-construal and its relation to culture, social change, and generations follows. It should be emphasized here that this chapter does not discuss family issues and the process of transmission. It only focuses on social processes and their impact on the two generations studied in the current work. The issue of cultural and intergenerational transmission between biologically related generations, which is emphasized in developmental psychology, is broadly introduced and largely depicted in chapter three. After the description of relevant models to conceptualize and analyze the transmission of values, the second part of this chapter addresses differential aspects of the relationship between children and their mother and father. Here, the effects of parenting, the relationship quality, the parents’ agreement on the contents of transmission, and the parent-child similarity in the perception of social change are closely examined. Introduction 9
Chapter four summarizes the research questions and the hypotheses as derived from the theoretical argumentations presented in the first three chapters. After the description of the specific sample, the applied instruments, the procedure, and the data analyses in Chapter 5 (Method), the sixth chapter presents the findings of this work. The chapter starts with preliminary results regarding analyses with socio-demographic variables. Since these analyses do not represent the main focus, the related tables are presented in the Appendix. After these descriptive results, the rest of the results are presented in an order corresponding to that of the research questions and hypotheses as seen in chapter four. In the last chapter (Chapter seven), the discussion of the results is presented followed by discussion of limitations of the study and perspectives for future research.
10 11
1 Romania in the Old and New Social Order
The main goal of this chapter is to give an overview of the Romanian history, culture, and politics in order to provide a broader theoretical framework for the specific topics discussed in this work. It is not easy to understand the present without considering the past. Therefore, besides discussing aspects of the Romanians’ mentality, their expectations and anxieties in the current days, it is also important to reveal how the Romanian Family evolved through different eras, and particularly what traces the Communist regime left on people’s thinking. Historically seen, the countries of Eastern Europe have been a periphery of two more remote civilizations, that of imperial Moscow and that of the Ottoman Empire. One consequence of this situation has been that Eastern Europe, for the most part of the modern period, has lacked both economic and political autonomy. Except for a very brief interwar period, the post-1989 period is the first time when Eastern Europe as a whole is free to choose its own course of action without this being defined or superimposed from above by alien powers (Grancelli, 1995). During the socialist era, the Central and Eastern European countries were called the Eastern bloc or the countries behind the Iron Curtain, although many differences existed between them. These countries had different cultures, different traditions, and even the imposed political measures were not always in the same direction. Nevertheless, the educational system and its aim was the same everywhere, namely to create responsible socialist youth. Therefore, studies in the domain of psychology conducted in these countries may be helpful to understand the impact of political ideologies on value systems and on family relationships. From a psychological perspective, it remains an open question that how much of the communist ideology people ever accepted, particularly regarding the primacy of the group (or the state) over the individual. With regard to Romania, very few psychological studies on family processes are available. Some empirical studies were carried out in the 70s but they must be evaluated carefully since the publication of scientific results was restricted by the way they were in agreement with ideological convictions at the time. Furthermore, typically in transitional states like Romania, much of the research and writings in general are focused on politics and economy. In the field of psychology, major research studies were rarely conducted after 1989. Particularly, there is little research on the impact of abrupt social change like the breakdown of the communist system on individual development. 12 Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order
The chapter consists in three parts. First, a short introduction of the history of Romania is given (1.1), followed by a more specific analysis of family’s characteristics and related values in different areas and eras, including the communist period (1.2). Lastly, but most importantly, the consequences of the abrupt social changes that occurred after 1989 on people’s everyday life are explained based on theoretical arguments and empirical findings. It is suggested that the way the societal changes are perceived varies by age and gender (e.g., Brandstaedter & Greve, 1994; Elder, 1974). Within a psychological perspective, it is argued here that the individual perception of the changing societal context may be related to specific life conditions of the individual and relationship attributes, such as parent-child relationship quality (1.3).
1.1 History of Romania: A Short Overview
Romanian’s ancestors are the Dacians and the region where they lived was called Dacia. Conquered by the Romans, Dacia was turned into a Roman province, which was subjected to a complex Romanization process, its basic element being the definitive adoption of the Latin language. The Romanian language is one of the major heirs of the Latin language, together with French, Italian, and Spanish, representing in this way an “oasis of Latinity” in the Eastern part of Europe. A specific trait of Romania’s history – or at least of the territory we nowadays call Romania - from the Middle Ages until the modern times is that its population lived in three neighboring but autonomous Principalities - Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania. During the 14-15th centuries, princes of the three Romanian principalities, such as Mircea the Old (1386-1418), Vlad the Impaler (Dracula of the Medieval legends, 1456-1462), and Stephen the Great and Holy (1457-1504), the voivode of Moldavia, fought heavy defense battles against the Ottoman Turks, delaying their expansion to Central Europe. The Romanian nation state took the name of Romania in 1862 and settled its capital in Bucharest. Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the new prince of the unified Moldavia and Wallachia, initiated a reform program, which contributed to the modernization of the Romanian society and its state structures. After his abdication, Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen ruled the country. In 1881 Romania proclaimed itself a kingdom and Carol the 1st of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was crowned as the King of Romania. Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order 13
In August 1914, when the World War I broke out, Romania declared itself neutral. Two years later it joined the Allies, which promised to support its national unity. The international peace treaties of 1919-1920 established the new European realities and also sanctioned the union of the provinces that were inhabited by Romanians into one single state. The universal suffrage was introduced (1918), a radical reform was applied (1921), a new Constitution was adopted and all these created a general democratic framework and paved the way for a fast economic development. During the World War II, Romania was neutral until 1941 when entered the war on the side of the Axis Power. Toward the end of the war, in August 1944, Romania, under King Michael, changed the armies to the side of the Allies. After the World War II, together with other Central and Eastern European states, Romania fell under the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence. The Soviets pressed for the inclusion of Romania's heretofore-negligible Communist Party in the post-war government, while non- communist political leaders were steadily eliminated from political life. At that time, the Romanian People's Republic was declared. Nicolae Ceausescu became the head of the Communist Party in 1965 and the head of the state in 1967. Although he distanced his politics from the mainstream Soviet political measures, at the same time inner politics went wild and by the 1980s the regime became the symbol of paranoiac dictatorship and a cult of the self (Nelson, 1988). For nearly 25 years, Ceausescu’s regime has slowly dragged the Romanians into an economic, social, and moral deadlock. These years were dominated by lies, corruption, terror, violation of human rights, and isolation from the Western world, an unfortunate era that may influence people’s mentality, behaviors, and expectations for still many years ahead, as Djuvara (2001), a well-known and respected Romanian historian, puts it:
“The most tragic inheritance of the communist regime is that the 25 years spoiled our soul. A regime where the lie was the strategy to govern the country, where the terror led to cowardice in most of the Romanians and to unwise heroism in the fewest of them; … where the robbery ended up being seen as legal because of the permanent deprivations and of the example of frauds taken from the communist leaders, such a regime was inevitable not to have let deep traces in people’s mentalities and behaviors. The damaged 14 Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order
morality is more difficult to repair than the old factories.” (Djuvara, 2001, pp. 229-230)
After the collapse of communism in the rest of Eastern Europe in the late summer and fall of 1989, a mid-December protest in Timisoara against the forced relocation of an ethnic Hungarian pastor grew into a countrywide protest against the Ceausescu regime, sweeping the dictator from power. Ceausescu and his wife were executed on December 25, 1989, after a cursory military trial. About 1,500 people were killed in chaotic street fighting. An impromptu governing coalition, the National Salvation Front (FSN), installed itself and proclaimed the restoration of democracy and freedom. In terms of democratization and improving living conditions, only modest changes took place afterwards. Negative effects of the transition were experienced soon after: unemployment, inflation, growing social inequalities, drug abuse, etc. These changes have had strong influences on the family structure and functioning, as seen in the drop of birth and marriage rate, but also in the increasing suspicion with regard to interpersonal relations in general.
1.2 The Romanian Family in Different Eras
1.2.1 The Moldavian family during the 17th and 18th century
In 1714, Dimitrie Cantemir, voivode of Moldavia, became a member of the Academy in Berlin. At the request of the Academy, he wrote “Descriptio Moldaviae” (Description of Moldavia), the first ethnographical, geographical, and economic description of Moldavia. Of special interest is the part referring to the Moldavians’ Vices [Despre naravurile Moldovenilor], where he defined the personality of the people, and reported upon their hospitality, dances, religious cult, and proverbs. He described the Moldavians as being proud, courageous, good archers and spearmen, but also ready to discord, and unreliable - “they can forget fast the animosities, but the friendships also never last too long” (Cantemir, 1978, as cited in Stanciulescu, 1998, pp. 43-44). They were very hospitable to strangers and although very poor, they were ready to offer to anybody “food and housing for three days for free” (Cantemir, 1978, as cited in Stanciulescu, 1998, p. 44). With regard to his descriptions, four issues are relevant for this work: a) Clear role differences existed between men and women. Women had to behave in the society Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order 15
according to certain norms; for example, it was forbidden for them to eat and drink as much as men. Also, religious practices used to separate the women from men, and the public life was only reserved to men. b) Moldavians believed that a higher education was only necessary for priests. Education was considered as something that “makes one crazy” and was never advocated within the family. It was probably assumed that children learn their duties and tasks by simply imitating. c) They strongly believed in fate. d) Son preference was dominant at that time. In Cantemir’s work, words like “child” or “childhood” did not appear; only names related to certain chores or affiliation to a social category or another, and always strictly labeled by the gender of the child, such as “the voivode’s son” or “the princess’ s daughter” (Cantemir, 1978, as cited in Stanciulescu, 1998, p. 39). The conclusion that can be drawn from Cantemir’s book is that Moldavians seemed to be sociable, generous, and hospitable people. These characteristics point to a group-oriented, collectivist society. Further, it seems that they did not pay much attention to their children’s education except if they belonged to the high class. Important changes occurred in the modern period as can be seen in the next part.
1.2.2 The modern and contemporary Romanian family (1821-1944)
According to historians, the modern period of the Romanian society started in the first decades of the 19th century, marked by considerable socio-political transformations. Along with the formation of the independent state, great changes occurred at the educational level: The new modern discourse makes out of children and their education the main issue. Thereby, the education of children became the focus of the school’s responsibility, but at the same time it was more and more clear that the success in school is dependent on the prior acquisitions within the family (Stanciulescu, 1998). The family, as compared to other educational agents – community, peers, and school - was more and more seen as the most influential “actor” in the development of the child. In the beginning of the 20th century, most parents believed in the “plasticity” of the early childhood and the omnipotence of the parental influence on the child’s development: “if they want and know how to do it, the parents can do everything they want out of their child” (Oproiu, 16 Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order
1911, as cited in Stanciulescu, 1998, p. 53). This might be influenced by the behaviorist-turn-in psychology in Russia founded by Pavlov (1849-1936) and in the U.S. by Watson (1929). Such progressive beliefs were primarily represented in the upper class. Among poor people or in rural areas, however, the former beliefs that the child was not a matter of conscious educational efforts continued. It was considered as sufficient to provide them food, house, and clothing (Stanciulescu, 1998). Furthermore, the importance of having children was more clearly defined than before. Children served several functions for their parents: they represented “a way to prolong their own life, to pass on their name and an expression of the love between man and wife” (Negruzzi, 1853, as cited in Stanciulescu, 1998, p. 52), as well as “an object of their pride” (Mironescu, 1915, as cited in Stanciulescu, 1998, p. 52). With respect to the quality of the parent-child relationship, regardless of the social class, a strong emotional relationship between both parents and their children existed, a relationship that even increased in intensity in the lower class (Stanciulescu, 1998). What turned out to be very interesting when examining the literature was an absence of the separation between the mother as having expressive functions and the father having instrumental functions. Notably, it is mostly the opposite, the mother was the one responsible to make decisions about what is best for the child (Stanciulescu, 1998). The son preference continued:
Romanians’ way of life and values in modern times
Two distinct works in the description of the Romanians’ character as a nation during the modern period, their philosophy of life, qualities and vices are written by Benedict (1943), “Rumanian Culture and Behavior”, and by Heitmann (1985), “The image of Romanians in the German linguistic area”. The two authors came from different fields: Benedict from anthropology and Heitmann from comparative literature. It has to be noted that they studied numerous sources of information about Romanians without having a direct contact with the culture (the so-called “outsider-perspective”). Both Benedict and Heitmann used comparative techniques in order to better demonstrate how Romanians are: comparison of Romanian with Americans in the first case, and with Germans in the latter case. For instance, Romanians, as compared to Americans, perceive themselves as enjoying life above everything else – “Americans, they say, don’t know how to Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order 17 live. They kill the joy of life. The Romanian has a better control over life. The luck is on our side […] One day can bring so much that one year cannot – that is to say, why working a whole year when one single day can bring you more?” (Benedict, 1972, p. 59) or “It seems that Romanians live a kind of charismatic life, free of any dilemmas, obligations and anxieties that an American become aware of only when thinking of a Romanian” (Benedict, 1972, p. 44). Similar remarks on the “hedonistic” character of Romanians are found in Heitmann’s book when he compares them with the Germans: “The Romanians do not go that far to forget the pleasure of life for the work’s sake, they are not slaves of their own work […] They consider that this feeling of duty while neglecting your own person, as Germans do, deserves a great admiration, but still they think that taking care of your life is more important” (Heitmann, 1995, p. 150). Taking an adapted version of the Rokeach’s Values Inventory (Popescu-Neveanu, 1983) as orientation, Iacob (2003) tried to identify the dominant characteristic of Romanians described by Benedict in her study. Two types of values exist in the Rokeach’s Values Inventory, namely “terminal values” (concerning endstates of existence) and “instrumental values” (concerning preferred behaviors). Further, each of the two categories is divided into two subcategories: the “instrumental values” contain action values and relational values; the “terminal values” include self-realization values and affective satisfaction values. The following hierarchy of the importance of values was found after content analyses of Benedict’s book in: affective satisfaction values (e.g., “a world at peace”, “a world of beauty”, “inner harmony”, “pleasure”) were of the highest importance, followed by self-realization values (e.g., “freedom”, “an exciting life”), action values (e.g., “intelligent”, “courageous”) and, at last, the relational values (e.g., “forgiving”, “helpful”). In summary, Benedict considered the Romanian culture and civilization as basically dominated by affection and “the power of the heart” (Iacob, 2003), but at the same time not as one focused on trustful social relations, as she wrote: “the need to find a scapegoat always exists” (Benedict, 1972, p. 48) or “In business […] if one pretends having altruistic reasons and open intentions, a Romanian would have the impression that you want to fool him” (Benedict, 1972, p. 14). If some of her observations in terms of values are easy to identify among the “modern” Romanians, others are rather surprising (Chelcea, 1991) and not supported by an “insider- 18 Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order perspective”, such as tolerance and humanism, which were situated in the last place according to Benedict’s view (Iacob, 2003).1 To conclude, it seems that during the modern period in Romania the issue of children’s education gained significantly in its importance, especially the belief that parents are responsible for their children’s achievements. Speaking about guiding principles in their life, Romanians apparently enjoyed life more than other nations (Germans or Americans), considered the influence of fate stronger than that of effortful work and did not bother much about existential dilemmas in life. Instead, they chose to have a peaceful and joyful life, but were suspicious about the relations with others and never trusted them completely. With respect to the characteristics of humanism and hospitality, differences were found between the insider- and outsider-perspectives. Although the research about national character is different from the psychological perspective, it gives insight about beliefs and attitudes of the majority of Romanians.
1.2.3 Romania under communism (1944 - 1989)
Ceausescu’s ultimate goal was to rapidly transform the country into a “multilaterally developed”, modern, independent, and “national” communist state. His megalomania and absurd economical plans ruined the national economy. As an enthusiast of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, he imposed his ideological positions to Romanian intellectuals, professional cadres, and party leaders. Consequently, they had dramatic effects on scientists and writers, on the educational system, and on all individuals who were aware of the motivations of the leaders and the emptiness of the official dogma (Betea, 2001). A strict ban on abortion combined with the nationalistic propaganda promoting the increase of the population resulted in the birth of thousands of unwanted children who were later left in orphanages (Pasti, 2003). Thousands of villages were targeted for demolition. The rural population was forced to migrate to the cities and employed in industry. The wages were kept very low. During the last years of the regime food, fuel, and electricity rationing were introduced. Nevertheless, a “minimum of material existence”, as often said, was guaranteed for everybody, which makes some Romanians, especially the older generations, still nostalgic for the communism times (see Iakovlev & Marcou, 1999).
1Septimiu Chelcea and Luminita Iacob are two prominent Romanian University psychology professors. Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order 19
The bureaucracy emerged and flourished after the idea of creating mutual obligation (Nelson, 1988). Individuals with a certain position in the state structure had discretion over some of the resources that had to be distributed to the population. It was often the case that they used their positions to serve their own personal advantages. Communism has brought major changes in all life domains, including the educational system. Educational institutions were supposed to replace the family as the principal locus of socialization. According to the Communist Party, the goal of the education process in schools was mainly to produce “trustful communist citizens”. The socialist societies eliminated both gender and class disparities. Each citizen had the obligation to have children and to educate them in the spirit of the Communist Ideology (Pasti, 2003). It is still unclear to what extent this ideology was successful at both school and family levels (see 1.2.3.2). One main purpose of this work is to explore the degree of the parents’ influence on adolescents’ value system, as largely depicted in Chapter 3. The parents included in this study have spent most of their life under the communist regime. They went to schools during communism, exercised the jobs that were ascribed to them by the regime, and organized their life within the limits imposed by the Party. One can speculate that these people, inevitably, carry with them a kind of “communist inheritance”
1.2.3.1 The role of family and educational institutions on adolescents’ values and intergenerational relations
The question at this point is whether the school was indeed the main educational agent, as the party leaders attempted to advocate and sustain. Also, what types of values were emphasized as being important in socializing children? Very few comprehensive studies in this area have been conducted, and in most cases no complete and reliable data are reported. Two categories of values were studied in the research, which are presented in the following, namely the “collective or social values” (to serve and respect the Party above everything else) as opposed to “personal values” (to give the family and personal goals higher importance than the Party). Springer (1974, as cited in Nelson, 1988) found that the qualities parents wanted to see in their children did not have much to do with the politically relevant social values (e.g., patriotism, selflessness, collective consciousness). They emphasized personal values by expecting their children to be intelligent, sincere, attentive, and having a spirit of initiative. No differences were 20 Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order found in their expectations of values in daughters and sons. A study on adolescents carried out by Mahler (1972, as cited in Nelson, 1988) speaks in favor of a stronger influence of family environment compared to schools. Adolescents showed higher preference for personal values, but not social values, which is similar to the results reported above. The highest-ranking value was “to be happy in love” and “to succeed in personal life”. With respect to youth’s life ideals and goals, research showed that “personal ideals” (e.g., “friendships”, “good family relations”) are on top of their preferences (Mahler, 1972, cited in Nelson, 1988). Apparently, a lack of “collective” values existed and one can speculate on the inability of the Party to create the “new socialist youth” (Nelson, 1988). These observations were further supported by Cernea and Springer (1974, as cited in Nelson, 1988). In a review of 15 studies on life aspirations of youth and their relationship to school and family, they concluded that the family remains by far the most influential agent in the orientation of youth toward a career path. However, the results of a lack of collective values could also be interpreted as a lack of political maturity among the adolescents. On the other hand, there are also studies supporting the “successful formation” of the youth in the spirit of the socialist ideology. For example, research conducted by Stoian (1979, 1980, as cited in Oschlies, 1983) on personal values of youth and their behavior towards communist society showed that the most important value was “patriotism”, followed by “fight against enemies”, and “respect for the laws”. However, it is important to note, that from a list of 15 attributes, only one (“family”) was not related to the communist principles. Based on such a restricted instrument, the results are not surprising. The outcome only reflects which of the “officially desired goals” the adolescents evaluate as the highest. When asked about “the most important factors contributing to one’s happiness”, they put “happiness in the family and marriage” in the first place (44,3 %), and “a high position in the hierarchy” the last (0,5 %). With regard to the similarities between generations concerning the value system, Mahler (1972, as cited in Nelson, 1988) found a high level of intergenerational similarities. 100 families from Bucharest were included in the study, with children aged between 16 and 21 years. Thirty- five statements were presented to parents and children and they had to rate their opinion on a five-point scale from “1- complete agreement” to “5 - complete disagreement”. Only for six items were differences found: adolescents had more materialist values (having money is more Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order 21 important for them than for the parents) and more modern values (e.g., adolescents agreed less on that the family represents an authoritarian relationship). The longitudinal studies on values conducted by Steriade (cited in Nelson, 1988) within the family are particularly interesting. Her works have been severely censored and remained unpublished to the most part. However, she showed that the family plays a major role in fulfilling values and, also that the formation and maintenance of a family is a main goal for Romanians. As she pointed out, if the Romanians were to choose between “the continuation of studies, promotions at work, and establishing a family, they would give priority to the last alternative” (Steriade, as cited in Nelson, 1988, p. 75). One important conclusion of her work is that the family remained the centerpiece of social organization in communist Romania, despite sustained efforts to supplant it as an economic production unit and to displace the family as the principal locus of socialization (Nelson, 1988). Values and their achievement were strongly and mainly related to the family. Unfortunately, we do not have much information about the sample that participated in this study, such as number and age of adolescence, and from which city they were recruited (most likely Bucharest). The research showed that the Party’s attempts to control the family socialization were difficult to fulfill, not only in Romania, but also in other communist countries. Some authors called the family in the German Democratic Republic a “private refuge” (Watts, 1994, p. 495), an island free from ideology, a place allowing free and controversial discussions. Gaus (1983) used the term niche society for GDR, the family being the most import niche in his view. To summarize, enormous efforts were made by the Party during communism in order to exert complete control over the organization and functioning of the family. Research in social sciences was scarce. The few studies that have been carried out often do not report information concerning methodological issues (e.g., sample size, instruments, location). To answer the earlier question in this chapter whether the “communist education” in school was successful or not and to what extent parents and children internalized the Party ideology, the studies mentioned above showed that adolescents placed their personal values over the collective (social) values and the family continued to play the dominant role in the socialization of the children in terms of encouraging them to take their own initiative as opposed to being patriotic. Moreover, it seems that having a happy family life was by far more important than being faithful to the Party. 22 Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order
1.2.3.2 Women’s role in the society and the family
Family formation under communism occurred early in life. Special financial support for young families and the regulations for housing supply promoted early marriage and childbearing. Additionally, a lack of life-style options for young people (e.g., a ban on traveling outside the borders of the socialist countries, a predictable life planning and life transitions) led also to a preference for an early family life (Walper, 1995). After school, mothers were seen as the principal agent in educating the children. In contrast to previous times, women’s role was set as more equal to men’s role, if not more: The new communist discourse created the model of “super-women”, being able to have a job, to take care of the majority of the household chores, to educate the children and permanently be a model for them (Pasti, 2003). In line with the Marxist ideology, women in a socialist society were emancipated and guaranteed equal rights, employment, and the opportunity to become active in politics. Consequently, women constituted on average about 46% of the total adult labor force (United Nations Statistics Division, 1995). Despite this “special status”, women in Romania were overrepresented in low-status jobs and their wages were kept at a lower level compared to men. In reality, they continued to be socialized into traditional gender roles (cooking, shopping, etc.) while supposedly enjoying gender equality (Toth, 1993). The general evidence indicates that families in Romania offered a niche in the larger social context allowing for privacy, social support, and retreat from public control and demands. Mothers in particular perceived building a protective environment for their families as their first priority (Stanciulescu, 1998). In conclusion, one could say that women during communism in Romania were confronted with a great challenge of having to play an active part in the work place and at the same time fulfill most part of the responsibilities at home such as taking care of children and the household tasks. Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order 23
1.3 “Post-Modernity” in Romania
1.3.1 Changes at the macro-level in the post-communist Romania
Enormous changes occurred in Romania after the breakdown of communism in 1989. Unemployment rate grew from 3% in 1991 to 11.8% in 1999, and slowly decreased to 8.8% in 2001 (Source: National Agency for Employment). Furthermore, the loss of financial and housing privileges provided by the communist system, the lack of economic security, and the increase in life-style options (e.g., traveling, more elaborated career plans) contribute to a postponement of marriage. From 1990 to 2000, mean age at first marriage grew by 2 years (from 22 to 23.9 for women and from 25 to 27.2 years for men). Romania recorded 5.8 marriages for 1000 inhabitants, a medium value in the Central and East Europe. Surprisingly, divorce rate had remained constant in the years after 1989 - 1.4 at 1000 inhabitants. Fertility rate has dramatically and continuously decreased in the last decade, from 2.2 in 1989 to 1.2 in 2001. The economic situation is perhaps an important explanation, if not the only one: the worsening of living standards and the disappearance of support policies for children made parents to focus on one child or even to give up the idea of having children. After decades of communist rule, bribes, kickbacks, and other forms of graft almost became “culturally embedded” (Hutchcroft, 1997). The collapse of communist political regimes could not erase the cultural values and attitudes that have tolerated, if not encouraged, those corrupt practices. As Kneen (2000) puts it with respect to Russia, corruption “represents the extension of the informal culture and practices of the Soviet system to the opportunities presented by emerging Russian capitalism” (p. 349). This description fits the present situation in Romania as well. The breakdown of communism in 1989 came as a psychological shock. The extent of it, however, was difficult to evaluate due to its scale and a lack of comparative indices. Almost from one day to the next, new laws, new institutions, and a new economic system governed the lives of the people. Obviously a vacuum was created through the elimination of the communist structure and ideology. All this macro-level changes had and still have a strong impact on people’s everyday life, especially with respect to the increasing uncertainty and unpredictability of the coming future. The next parts of this chapter will further discuss these aspects. 24 Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order
1.3.2 Axiological uncertainty in the post-communist Romania
Within a psychological perspective, Romania is dominated by axiological uncertainties produced by low material security that is rooted in the economy’s incapacity to produce sufficient resources to cover the needs of most individuals. This axiological uncertainty has multiple causes (Voicu, 2001): a) Changes in the social order, by formally abandoning official normativism and redefining good and bad (dropping the communist stereotype of the “good”-communism and “enemy”- capitalism). b) While the points of reference were well defined before, now numerous choices are available regarding the methods of doing. Value choices, maximally restricted under communism, became hard to make in the new society, dominated by a lack of predictability. c) Justice, influenced by corruption and personal interests, is arbitrary. Its opaqueness still remains in certain political decision makings and in certain activities related to the administration of the society. All these factors (and many others not mentioned here) contribute to an increased uncertainty for the individuals regarding the result of one’s action in an environment that is hard to control (Voicu, 2001). Confronted with novel situations, the individual become aware of his/her beliefs and can react in two different ways: (a) displaying a defense reaction – the person avoids the changes in order to maintain his/her identity; such changes would provoke much uncertainty in the individual; (b) displaying an adaptation reaction – a belief may be given up if a person recognizes that the related goals cannot be realized or that she/he lacks the strategies (Trommsdorff, 1999). In either case, a kind of residual communism is observed among many people in Romania (Betea, 2001). In a study conducted in 1991 in Romania by Barometrul Noilor Democratii (New Democracies Barometric) in collaboration with Lazarsfeld Institute in Vienna, communist-like attitudes and expectations as well as the resistance to change were examined. A sample of 1000 people was selected from the adult population. It was found that people expected from the new regime to remove everything that was undesirable in the old regime and to simply install the good things of the occidental world (Betea, 2001). When asked about what institutions they trust, the majority mentioned the Church and the Army, and only few of them reported trust in the Parliament or any of the political parties. Furthermore, Romanians showed clear preference for a Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order 25 safe job with less money instead of an unsafe but better paid job; also, they considered that the state is directly responsible for their well-being. When it came to money, they were very individualists, they did not agree with the principle of equal salaries for individuals. All together, Romanians’ mentality goes rather in the conservative direction in life, but they value money similarly as individualists (more details are presented in Chapter 2).
1.3.3 Relevance and personal meaning of social change for the individual: Generations and gender difference
In a survey conducted by CURS (Centrul de Sociologie Urbana si Regionala) in 1999, when asked about “Do you think your standard of living is better or worse compared with the situation before 1989?”, 61% of Romanians considered that their life was better before, 11% considered that it is the same and only 24% considers that it is better (survey). Another study conducted by Betea (2001) with 600 Romanians over 18 years of age found similar results: 61% declared they were satisfied with their life before 1990. Social change can be a risk factor or a growth-fostering challenge for further development (Trommsdorff, 2000). Since individuals dispose of different resources in accordance with their age, effects of social change on human development are also expected to vary by age (Brandstaedter & Greve, 1994; Heckhausen & Schulz, 1995). Adolescents and young adults are expected to be most likely to seize the new opportunities available in times of social change. One reason is that they are not yet committed to a certain career path that could be disrupted by social change and they lack both social and personal resources to control the situation, as it might be the case of their parents (e.g., Elder, Shanahan, & Clipp, 1994). Although historically Romania differs in many ways from former East Germany, Czech Republic or Hungary, psychological research studies conducted in these countries may be helpful in explaining the consequences of social change. Based on data gathered from 120 families from East and West Germany, Noack, Hofer, Kracke, Wild, and Boehnke (1997) developed an instrument capturing various aspects of the societal context. Adolescents and their parents were asked for their perceptions of the actual situation as well as of changes during the recent past with regard to each item. The scales addressed perceived uncertainty in the society, social welfare, technological progress, interactions in public, and political participation. The difference found between West and East reflected macrocontextual conditions: increases of uncertainty, the 26 Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order decline of the welfare system or gains in opportunities for political participation were experienced more strongly by East Germans compared to West Germans. Moreover, family members differ in the perceived amount of change, with parents reporting stronger changes for worse than adolescents. In a study with 593 adolescents from the former East Germany, Pinquart, Silbereisen and Juang (2004) found that on average respondents perceived their future rather more optimistically than pessimistically. 63% of the participant perceived improvements of the financial situation, whereas only 13% perceived deterioration. Further, 64% perceived improvements with regard to options for spending their leisure time and 15% deterioration. It has to be mentioned that the data were collected in 1992. Some researchers also reported gender differences. Elder (1974) found a more negative impact of social change on girls than on boys because social norms prohibited them seeking part- time jobs outside the home and gain autonomy. Thinking about differences in experiencing social changes between females and males in Romania, the decline of the social welfare after 1989, such as the dissolution of the daycare centers, led to a greater burden for women. Now they have to face increased competition for employment in societies that no longer provide support for parenthood’s responsibilities. This in turn may influence girls and women’s attitudes toward transformation. The change to a market economy and the decrease in social welfare benefits make girls more sensitive than boys towards the negative aspects of social change (Macek, Flanagan, Gallay, Kostron, Botcheva, & Csapo, 1998). Social change increases sensitivity by making social relations uncertain and threatening. For instance, in a study conducted in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, and Hungary (Macek et al., 1998) as part of a larger international project, “Adolescents’ Interpretation of the Social Contract”, perceptions of change among adolescents in Central and Eastern Europe were studied. Data were collected in 1995 from adolescents between 12 and 18 years old. Three aspects were of interest in this investigation: perception of economic disparities after 1989, perception of the local community as a caring place or not, and the value of individual initiative. The results showed that girls were more likely to observe growing economic disparities than boys, with less gender differences in Czech Republic, which is better developed economically than the other two participating countries. Further, boys were more likely to believe that anyone who worked hard could make a good living, and they felt more that their community cared about one another, with Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order 27
Bulgarian having the lowest scores, which means that they were most pessimistic. To summarize, these studies showed that parents perceived the transformations more negatively than the children and that girls are more pessimistic than boys. Parents as compared to children and girls as compared to boys experience stronger uncertainties in the “new world” and a stronger economic decline. The interactions between people are perceived as worse and not based on trust. In the present study, participants –parents and their adolescent children - were asked about their perception of social change (social life, feelings of uncertainty/anomie, and social welfare) occurring in Romania. Based on the theoretical assumptions and the empirical findings mentioned above, the following hypotheses were formulated:
It is assumed that parents perceive stronger changes for worse than children (hypothesis 1). Furthermore, it is also expected that female participants are more sensitive to changes for worse than male participants (hypothesis 2).
1.3.4 The consequences of social change for individuals and family relationships
Whereas social change has been a research focus in sociology over the last century (e.g., Mannheim, 1927/1952), it only recently became a topic of interest in developmental psychology, largely inspired by Glen Elder’s (1974) study on “Children of the Great Depression”, and stimulated by the recent dramatic transformation of economic, political, and social institutions in Eastern Europe. Despite the interest in investigating the consequences of social change, there is still a lack of theoretical frameworks on how social change affects human development (Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2004). Undoubtedly, the transformation after 1989 affected and continues to affect living conditions, values, expectations, life styles, and well being of the individuals (Walper, 1995). The family, as a major social institution and context for individual development has to cope with losses and gains resulting from social changes. One important theory that provides insightful understanding of the relation between social change and human development, namely the ecological perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1989), will be described in Chapter 2.
28 Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order
Although the social changes implied in Eastern European countries are even of greater complexity, the “Children of the Great Depression” study conducted by Elder (1974) gives some important ideas for the current study. It mainly examined the impact of the economic changes (such as financial losses in the family, unemployment of the family members) on family bonds and children’s and adolescents’ adjustment. The study was based on data collected within the so- called Oakland Growth Study (‘Adolescent Growth Study’) with an important sample of adolescents observed over 6 years, from junior high school to senior high school (from 11 to 17/18 years old). Some of them were interviewed again at the age of 40. It was found that economic hardship resulted in conflicts and hostility in deprived families. Typically, the relative status of mother and father serves as sources of affection and values and exerts parental control. Unemployment and a sudden loss of income disrupt accustomed reciprocities in marriage, including the relative contributions and expectations of each partner, and necessitate hard choices among restricted expenditures. The economic deprivation also brings out the question about the extent to which the financial depression weakens the parent- child relation or shifts preferences from one parent to another. The findings showed that in the economic deprived families there was a high probability that the children look somewhere else for advices, companionship and guidance other than their parents. Moreover, in a stable, homogenous environment compared to a changing environment, children’s images of self generally correspond to the images held by parents (Elder, 1998). The socio-economic, political, and historical changes have strong effects on the development of the individual persons and on relations within the family (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). There are only very few studies on intergenerational relations in changing contexts, which have revealed risk and buffering factors for the development of family members (e.g., Elder, 1974, 1998; Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2004; Trommsdorff, 2000, 2001). Examples of the impact of social and economic changes on intergenerational relations are changes in vertical or horizontal economic transfer and investments (Kohli & Szydlik, 2000), the relationship quality (support, solidarity between the generations, patterns of intergenerational assistance). Relating social change with individuals’ development, Robila (2004) examined the impact of financial strain on family processes and adolescents' psychological functioning in Romania. She drew on the conceptual model of economic stress and family functioning developed by Conger, Ge, Elder, Lorenz, and Simons (1994b). Here, the direct and indirect links among Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order 29 financial strain, perceived social support, maternal depression, marital conflict, parenting quality and adolescents' psychological functioning were studied. The sample consisted of 239 Romanian mothers and their 12-14 year-old children. The results suggested that a higher level of economic strain was associated with higher levels of maternal depression, marital conflict, and social isolation. A compartmentalization between marital processes and parenting behaviors was also seen. That is, there was no impact of financial strain, maternal depression, and marital conflict on the quality of parenting and adolescents' psychological functioning. Although there are several successful replications showing the harmful role of losses in the family budget, Elder himself (e.g., Elder & Caspi, 1991) stressed the complexity of the processes of macro-contextual influence by suggesting the involvement of a variety of factors, such as children’s age, initial personality, and family characteristics. Whereas the impact of objective indicators for social change and of the financial situation on the individual were the focus of numerous studies, very few studies went beyond these aspects, especially in the developmental research area (Noack et al., 1997). Thus, besides indicators at the aggregate level, it is essential to know what factors are responsible for the way in which younger and older people perceive the changes in their society, which is an important step in the understanding of processes of adaptation. As Thomas and Thomas (1973) put it, it is through individual perceptions that actual conditions operate on the individual. For instance, Haeder and Haeder (1995) suggested that sufficient financial resources would help people to avoid the development of anomic feelings. As mentioned earlier, many studies showed that drastic decrease of the family income affected the quality of family relations and the psychosocial adjustment of children and their parents (e.g., Conger et al., 1994b; Elder, 1974; Silbereisen & Zinnecker, 1999). How people cope with social change depends also on many psychological aspects such as internal locus of control, self-efficacy beliefs, problem-solving abilities, or attachment relationship (Trommsdorff, 2000). However, little research has been conducted in this area. Trommsdorff and Chakkarath (1996) suggested that close psychosocial bonds between family members could be seen as an important resource in coping with new demands. Other researchers showed that relationship quality in the family fosters sons’ and daughters’ feelings of control in their lives (Schneewind, Walper, & Graf, in press). Though not demonstrated by empirical studies, one can assume that the level of anxiety might account for the perception of a situation as 30 Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order threatening or beneficial. Studies on dispositional mood showed that positive mood states predict a more relaxed and heuristic approach to novel situations (Fiedler, 1985). In a study conducted with 120 families (fathers, mothers and adolescents) from East and West Germany, Noack, Kracke, Wild, and Hofer (2001) examined the impact of individual and family characteristics on the perception of the societal uncertainty of the three members of the family. Using a structural equation modeling analyses package, separate analyses were conducted for each family member. As independent variables they included the monthly net family income, quality of family relations (here two measures were used, namely connectedness in the family and authoritative parenting), individual well-being (here measures for self-esteem, self-efficacy, depressive mood and anxiety were considered) and finally satisfaction with politics. Findings suggest that it is mainly family finances and participants’ satisfaction with politics that explain experiences of uncertainty. As expected, the family income was negatively related to perceived uncertainty in the society. However, this relation was revealed only in the parents’ sample. Further, the more politically satisfied both parents and children reported to be, the lower levels of uncertainty they perceived in the society. Weak effects of the quality of family relations on uncertainty were found in both mothers and fathers, but not adolescents. Surprisingly, the perception of uncertainty was not affected by the individual well-being. In summary, money and politics turned out to be the most influential factors in explaining family members’ perception of the society. Since the analyses in this study were conducted for both East and West Germans together it is possible that separate analyses would lead to different results (Noack et al., 2001). This study showed that the way the adolescents and adults see their society and social change is not just a matter of objective conditions, but it is also a subjective construction of social reality where two aspects play an important roles, the family financial resources and the political attitudes (Noack et al., 2001). Pinquart, Silbereisen and Juang (2004) found in a study conducted with 593 adolescents in the former East Germany in 1992 that higher levels of perceived negative effects of German unification (e.g., the financial situation, options of spending their leisure time, and life in general) were associated with lower levels of adolescents’ satisfaction with their present life (e.g., school, the chance of getting a job) and optimism regarding their future. Based on the theoretical arguments and empirical findings reported above, the following hypothesis is derived for the current investigation: Chapter 1: Romania in the Old and New Social Order 31
For both younger and older generations, a negative relation between the perception of increased changes for worse on the one side and parent-child relationship quality, parenting, and life satisfaction on the other side is expected (hypothesis 3). 32
33
2 Culture and Individual Development
This chapter first discusses the social and psychological processes that link culture and individual behavior together. Two theoretical frameworks are presented for this purpose: (1) Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model and (2) the concept of developmental niche developed by Super and Harkness (2.1). Further, the dimensionalist approach on culture proposed by four scholars, Hofstede, Schwartz, Triandis, and Inglehart, is presented. Also here, the issue of social change and its relation to values is introduced (2.2). This is followed by a discussion on culture and self-construal and the influences of social change in changing the developmental paths within a culture (2.3). Next, theoretical frameworks and empirical research conducted in Romania are described (2.4). Finally, the work hypotheses are presented (2.5).
2.1 Relation Between Culture And Individual
2.1.1 Definitions of culture
The definition of culture has been controversial in the social sciences. There are many definitions of culture in the literature; the cultural anthropologists alone have defined it in more than one hundred ways (Kroeber & Kluckhohn, 1952/1963). It has been defined as the human-made part of the environment (Herskovits, 1955), as in a similar way as what a program is to a computer (Hofstede, 1991), or that culture is to society paralleling what memory is to individuals (Kluckhohn, 1954), while others emphasized on the shared meanings (Shweder & LeVine, 1984). Examining a broader range of definitions of culture, Triandis (1996) concluded that most of them address three common aspects: culture emerges in adaptive interactions, consists of shared elements, and is transmitted (with modifications) across time periods and generations. Over time, people have developed and tried different tools, behaviors, and skills, selected what worked out and passed them on to their children. A culture survives only through transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next. In Triandis’s perspective:
“ … culture consists of shared elements that provide the standards for perceiving, believing, communicating, and acting among those who share a language, a historical period, and a geographic location”. (Triandis, 1996, p. 408) 34 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development
All cultures have language, myths, food habits, religious practices, family structures, “truth”, hygiene, incest taboos (Cole, 1996),but the fact that these categories are so broad makes the difference. Culture is something real, purely external, consisting of handed-down skills and material products and something ideal or internal, consisting of learned symbols and shared systems of meanings (see Cole, 1996). All these characteristics of culture can be perceived and interpreted in differential ways depending upon the culture one belongs to. From a psychological perspective, the main goal is to conceptualize the relation between culture and individual, more specifically to describe the impact of culture on individual development.
2.1.2 Two theoretical approaches linking culture and individual: Ecological model and developmental niche
Two influential theoretical approaches are discussed in the following: the ecological systems approach and the developmental niche approach.
2.1.2.1 Ecological systems approach
Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1989, 1993) ecological systems approach describes how multiple levels of the environment influence the child development. He assumed that natural environments are the major source of influence on the developing person and began by defining environment as “a set of nested structures, each inside the next, like a set of Russian dolls” (1979, p. 22). The developing person is situated in the center of and embedded in several environmental systems, ranging from immediate settings, such as family, to larger and more complex systems, such as culture (see Figure 1). He proposed four interacting systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. The microsystems refer to the activities and interactions that occur in the person’s immediate surroundings. They are dynamic systems, not only children being influenced by the people from their microsystem, but also their biological and social characteristics influence the environment and the behavior of others as well. The mesosystem stresses the connections among the microsystems (homes, schools, and peer groups). Bronfenbrenner’s belief is that an optimal development emerges when supportive links between microsystems exist. The exosystem consists of settings that may indirectly influence the child’s development, such as parents’ work environment and Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 35
Figure 1. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems (from Kopp, 1982, p. 648) mass media. The macrosystem is the larger cultural or subcultural including political structures and institutions, material resources, opportunity structures, and shared knowledge and cultural beliefs. This outer circle has strong consequences on the individual development because it determines all the interactions in the other systems. For example, Kornadt, Eckensberger and Emminghaus (1980) showed in their cross-cultural studies that the association between mothers’ early expectations for the acquisition of autonomy in their sons and the later achievement motivation of their sons is moderated by the expectation for autonomy in the respective culture, instead of a direct influence. Finally, Bronfenbrenner refers to the so-called chronosystem, which incorporates the time dimension of the ecological model, including the succession of ecological systems over the life course (e.g., kindergarten-school-workplace), and the impact of social change on the ecological systems. 36 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development
2.1.2.2 Developmental niche
The developmental niche approach (Super & Harkness, 1986, 1997) links the development of a child with three features of its cultural environment: (1) the physical and social settings (e.g., living space, the family structure); (2) the prevailing customs about child care (e.g., the cultural norms, practices and institutions), and (3) the caretaker psychology (e.g., the beliefs, values, affective orientations, and practices of parents). The last component is also known as parental ethnotheories or parents’ cultural belief system. These three subsystems are embedded in a larger ecosystem, surround the developing child, and promote, nurture, and constrain its development. They usually operate together, providing a coherent niche, but can also present inconsistencies to the child. When it comes to the question, how culture affects its individuals, the ideal aspect (Cole, 1996) has a stronger explanatory relevance. Here the parental beliefs and ideas about what are important competences to achieve in their children and how they can mediate this process play a decisive role. According to Triandis (1987), the parental subjective child-rearing theories are part of a “subjective culture” consisting of beliefs and representations of the parents about child- rearing and development of the child. Known as parents’ belief system (Super & Harkness, 1986, 1997) or cultural scripts in Goodnow’s perspective (1988), they are considered as containing cultural knowledge (Whiting, Chasdi, Antonovsky, & Ayres, 1974). Consequently, they can be seen as connecting culture and individual behavior (Trommsdorff & Friedlmeier, 2004). Moreover, the parental ethnotheories are a result of a more or less marked acquisition or adoption of the values, scripts and models of the culture they live in. They are often of an implicit nature (D’Andrade & Strauss, 1992). That is, they are related to behavior without the mediating effect of conscious decision making, in this way making their influence on behavior even stronger.
2.1.2.3 Comparison between the two approaches
Both approaches emphasize the immediacy of culture for child’s development and the active participation of the child in this process. The individual can also produce changes in culture. Furthermore, in both approaches consistencies and inconsistencies between the systems can occur. Looking at the abruptly changing Romania at the macrosystem level (e.g., change of the political regime, the shift from centrally planned toward a market-type economy, the roles of institutions), one can assume that this leads to contradicting messages coming from different Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 37 microsystems (e.g., influences from parents and from peers or schools) or between exosystem and microsystem (e.g., parents and mass-media). As stated in the first Chapter, older generations of Romanians experience enormous axiological uncertainties, being caught between a defence reaction in response to the multifaceted changes in the society and an adaptation reaction. Schools and teachers are better prepared for a change (or rather they are more likely to be forced to change). Regarding relations between microsystems (mesosystem), interestingly enough, it was found that in the former Soviet countries it is not only the educators that emphasize different child care goals (in the direction of modernization), but it is the parents who require competing education in the schools. The educators “bow to parental pressure” (Ispa, 2002, p. 412). Thus, already at this point one can assume that differences in values orientations are expected between older and younger generations in Romania. The question further is how ideal artifacts like norms and values can be used in a specific way to describe cultural differences. In the following the dimensionalist approach will be described in detail since it helps address this question and also has received the greatest attention in the social sciences research of the last two decades.
2.2 The Dimensionalist Approach in Studying Cultures
The dimensionalist approach aims at finding the most meaningful basic set of axes with which to explain the broad range of attitudes, beliefs, and life styles among large populations across societies (see Vinken, Soeters, & Ester, 2004). In the following the core characteristics of cultural dimensions seen by Hofstede, Schwartz, Triandis, and Inglehart are presented. They all have the focus on the “etic” instead of the “emic” starting from the conviction “that each culture is not so unique that any parallel with another culture is meaningless” (Hofstede, 2001, p. 24). Furthermore, they all use quantitative survey methods and emphasize the role of socialization process, where values are internalized early in life, mainly focusing the parents as primary socialization agents. There are also differences in their approaches on values but this is not the emphasis of this work (see Vinken et al., 2004 for an overview). 38 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development
2.2.1 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
For Hofstede (2001), the core elements of culture are the values, which he sees as fundamental tendencies to prefer certain states of affairs over others, and are held by individuals and collectivities. He is known for his cross-cultural research on values at the nation-state level. Based on responses to a values questionnaire collected in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s from IBM employees from more than 50 countries across the world, Hofstede derived five “culture-level” dimensions on which contemporary cultures or nations can be arrayed: power distance (the tendency to see - as legitimate - a large distance between the upper and lower part of the social structure); uncertainty avoidance (avoidance of situations where the outcome is uncertain); individualism /collectivism (loose ties between individuals as opposed to closely linked individuals from the same in-groups); masculinity/feminity (preference for achievement, assertiveness as opposed to preference for relationship, caring for the weak, and the quality of life), and long-term orientation (importance given to virtues oriented towards future rewards as opposed to virtues related to the past and present). From the five dimensions, that of individualism/collectivism (I/C) has received most attention and has been often used in subsequent research. In Hofstede’s perspective, I/C refers to the extent to which the identity of the members of a given culture is shaped primarily by personal choices and achievements or by the group to which they belong. Due to Hofstede’s research of the last 15-20 years, the concepts of I/C have gained in popularity. In reality, they have a long history: Durkheim (1893) used the terms mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity; Toennies (1957) distinguished between Gemeinschaft (community) and Gesellschaft (society); Weber (1947) used the terms communal and associative social relations; Parsons (1968) wrote about collectivity and self-emphasis; Weber (1947) and Inkeles and Smith (1974) used traditionalism and modernity. All these terms are in many ways related to individualism and collectivism (see Triandis, 1995). Although Hofstede’s research was worldwide recognized by scholars from different disciplines and stimulated much research in cross-cultural psychology, it also met much criticism, which is partly risen from a misinterpretation of Hofstede’s work and the neglect to distinguish between the cultural and individual level of values (see Trommsdorff, Mayer, & Albert, 2004). As Hofstede (2001) himself made it clear, his dimensions are meaningful only at the culture- level. Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 39
2.2.2 Schwartz’s cultural dimensions
Schwartz (1994) criticized Hofstede’s work and argued that there is a clear need for more specific categories, for more appropriate sample and not simply IBM employees. Like Hofstede, he puts the values at the core of a culture, defining culture as a complex, multidimensional structure that can be arrayed along a limited set of dimensions, both at the individual and at the culture- or “ecological” level (Schwartz, 1992, 1994). According to Schwartz, values are defined as desirable transsituational goals, varying in importance, that serve as guiding principles in the life of a person or social entity (Schwartz, 1994, p. 21). Values are seen as relatively stable over time, one characteristic that is consistent with Hofstede’s perspective. Three universal requirements were thought to be at the root of values: needs of individuals as biological organisms, prerequisites of coordinating social interactions, and requirements for the functioning of society and the survival of groups. Schwartz composed a survey instrument of 56 values and administered it to samples of schoolteachers and of university students in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s in about 40 nations. Schwartz (1994) considers the schoolteachers as the best subjects because they play an explicit role in socializing values. In other words, they are the “key carriers of culture”. Using the technique of “smallest space analysis”, Schwartz (1994, pp. 88-89) found these values to cluster into 10 categories (motivational value types): power (attainment of social status and prestige, and control or dominance over people and resources); achievement (personal success through the demonstration of competence according to social standards); hedonism (pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself); stimulation (excitement, novelty and challenge in life); self-direction (independence in thought and action); universalism (understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature); benevolence (concern for the welfare of close others in everyday interactions); tradition (respect, commitment and acceptance of the customs and ideas that one’s culture and religion impose on the individual); conformity (restraint of actions, inclination, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social norms and expectations); security (safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of the self). Based on the same technique mentioned above, Schwartz’s values form a circle with two closely related values located at adjoining positions and with incompatible values at the opposite part in the circle. These ten values are grouped into two dimensions, each with two different poles, namely: 40 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development a) Openness to change versus conservation (self-direction, stimulation and hedonism vs. security, conformity, and traditional values) b) Self-enhancement versus self-transcendence (hedonism again, power, and achievement vs. universalism, benevolence).
The Openness to change versus Conservation dimension is closest to the idea of individualism – collectivism, proposed by Hofstede and Triandis (Schwartz, 1994; Triandis, 1995, 1996). In a study conducted with Hong Kong and American subjects, Chan (1994) presented a multimethod approach for measuring individualism-collectivism, creating in this purpose the COLINDEX. He started from three different measures: (1) the Social content of the self, an adaptation of the Kuhn and McPartland’s (1954) method; (2) Triandis’s Attitudes items (see Triandis, 1988); and (3) some of the Schwartz Value items (see Schwartz & Bilsky, 1987, 1990). The third measure from the COLINDEX is of more interest for the current study since it was applied here to measure the values of collectivism and individualism in a short form proposed by Chan. Thus, Chan’s collectivist values include those items from Schwartz relating to security, conformity, and tradition. Individualist values include those items relating to self-direction, stimulation, and hedonism. This is important to note when referring to individualistic and collectivistic values throughout this work.
2.2.3 Values in Triandis’s perspective
The greatest merit of Harry Triandis’s work is the development of an alternative view on comparing cultures based on the construct of individualism/collectivism (Triandis, 1994, 1995). In his view, the concept of I/C is closely related to the issue of independent versus interdependent selves (see 2.3 later on in this chapter for a discussion). The following is the definitions for individualism and collectivism given by Triandis (1995):
Collectivism: “a social pattern consisting of closely linked individuals who see themselves as parts of one or more collectives (family, co-workers, tribe, nation); are primarily motivated by the norms of, and duties imposed by those collectives; are willing Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 41
to give priority to the goals of these collectives over their own personal goals; and emphasize their connectedness to members of these collectives”. (p. 6)
Individualism: “a social pattern that consists of loosely linked individuals who see themselves as independent of collectives; are primarily motivated by their own preferences, needs, rights, and the contracts they have established with others; give priority to their personal goals over the goals of others; and emphasize rational analyses of the advantages and disadvantages to associating with others”. (p. 6)
In his attempt to take into account culture-specificities and also to criticize the concept of I/C as a bipolar dimension, Triandis (1995) differentiates between horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism. In horizontal individualist countries people are independent but stress sameness and de-emphasize inequality. In horizontal collectivist cultures people are interdependent and emphasize social cohesion and oneness with in-group members. In vertical individualist countries, people are independent and distinct from others, and value having a “different self” (Triandis, 1995, p. 45). In vertical collectivist countries people expect and accept differences, serve and even sacrifice for the benefit of their in-group.
2.2.4 Inglehart’s cultural dimensions
Ronald Inglehart’s ongoing research focuses on cultural change and its consequences. In order to investigate this, he conducted a worldwide survey of values and attitudes, the World Values Survey and European Values Survey. He analyzed data from four waves of the World Values Survey (carried out in 1981, 1990, 1995 and 2000). He proposes that increase in economic prosperity leads to a better fulfillment of basic needs in the formative years of individuals (up to late adolescence), which, in turn, leads to less materialist values from generation to generation and a stronger focus on autonomy and self-expression in life. As Inglehart (1990) puts it, in times of prosperity, new generations emphasize less economic and physical security than earlier generations; instead, they give higher priority to nonmaterial goals, the so-called postmaterialistic goals (scarcity and socialization thesis). The similarity in the preference of post-materialistic and individualistic values is expected to stimulate an overall change (a “silent revolution”) towards post-modern values. The predicted value change towards postmaterialism (e.g., less authority, 42 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development less religious orientation, and declining closeness of parent-child relationships), however, was only partly supported by empirical studies. According to Inglehart, cultures differentiate along two main bipolar dimensions: survival versus well-being values (materialist versus postmaterialist values, life satisfaction, social trust) and traditional versus secular-rational authority values (religious or hierarchical bureaucratic institutions, male dominance, authoritarian attitudes versus individual freedom, rejection of centralization and hierarchy). Inglehart’s (1990, 1997) research offers many advantages as compared to other sociological value change studies (e.g., Mayer’s German Life History Study) by having multicultural data and analyzing aggregated data with consideration of cohort, period, and age effects. However, his claim that values change from generation to generation has not been systematically demonstrated in longitudinal data and the intrafamilial value transmission processes were almost ignored in his research.
2.2.5 Values: from cultural dimensions to individual orientations
Culture and individual have to be regarded as conceptually and methodologically different (see Trommsdorff et al., 2004). Although to some extent overlapping, cultural values are part of a broader system of ecological, demographic, and economic conditions and relevant social institutions. On the methodological front, the unit of analyses at the cultural and individual level is different: cultural values comprise aggregate data; individual values are based on individual data.
However, there is a strong overlap between the culture and the individual because individuals internalize the existing values in the process of socialization and the values are set by the institutions in a society (Schwartz, 1994). Furthermore, a society “runs more smoothly if citizens give high priority … ” to the same values (Schwartz, 1994, p. 93). Despite the overlap, it is still necessary to differentiate between cultural and individual level in order to avoid problems associated with deterministic perspective. Going from cultural to the individual level, Triandis (2001) argues that intracultural differences in the individual representations of values exist:
“It should not be assumed that everybody in individualist cultures has all the Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 43
characteristics of these cultures, and that every one in collectivist cultures has the characteristics of those cultures. Rather, people sample from both the individualist and collectivist cognitive structures, depending on the situation.” (Triandis, 2001, p. 909)
To differentiate between cultural and individual level in terms of I/C, Triandis (1994, 1995) brought an important contribution to cross-cultural issues with his differentiation between allocentric (people who act, feel, and believe like collectivists) and idiocentric (people who act, feel, and believe like individualists). He considers that although it is expected that most of the people in the individualist culture are idiocentric and in collectivistic cultures allocentric, the analysis at the individual level permits a closer differentiation and addresses the issue of intracultural differences.
2.2.6 Individualism and collectivism – one or two dimensions?
Do people either held individualist or collectivist values, and is this value system structured in a dichotomous, unidimensional fashion? Or they coexist at the individual level (Triandis’s perspective)? The literature has been inconsistent on this issue. Chan (1994) found that Chinese and Americans have shown negative correlations between these values providing thus support for the one-dimensional construct of I/C. Also, Schwartz’s values are organized into competing types in the sense that they form polar dimensions: he excluded the possibility that someone can simultaneously express autonomy from others and submission to them. He considers it as “psychologically as well as socially incompatible” (Schwartz, 1994). In contrast, Watson and Morris (2002) have shown for a North-American sample that I/C are compatible and positively related. Also, Trommsdorff et al. (2004) obtained to the same result with a three-generation sample. They conclude that I/C do not represent opposite poles of one dimension, at least at the individual level. They constitute separate dimensions, and they have different functions for the individual value system, with collectivistic values as the most powerful predictor for domain-specific values, such as the family values or the values of children. Similarly, Triandis does not consider I/C as one dimension with two poles. In his perspective, people are typically both individualist and collectivist; moreover, the balance between these tendencies is considered as the optimal state of individual and societal health. He 44 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development has attributed many problems of modernity to too much individualism, whereas a lack of human rights to too much collectivism. “Pure” versions of each cultural pattern are seen as highly undesirable. That both individualist and collectivist assumptions can coexist in a human mind does not exclude the fact that cultures and individuals differs widely in this respect (Triandis, 1995). In line with this, Kagitcibasi (1996a, 1996b) considers that there is enough evidence for the coexistence of both concepts in individuals. In her perspective, the modernization process does not necessarily replace collectivism by individualistic values. She developed three models of the family: the collectivist model based on communion (material and emotional interdependence; obedience is emphasized in the parent-child interactions); the individualistic model based on agency (material and emotional independence; self-reliance and autonomy are stressed); the synthetic model (material independence and emotional interdependence; both control and autonomy are considered important in the child’s socialization). Kagitcibasi (1996a, 1996b) views the last model of the family as optimal.
2.2.7 Collectivism and individualism as dimensions of social change at the cultural and individual level
The breakdown of the communist system in Eastern and Central Europe was the most significant historical events of the last decades, having enormous economic, social, moral, and psychological consequences, as largely depicted in the first chapter. In broader terms, social change can be defined as change in typical characteristics of a society, such as norms, values, cultural products, and symbols (Calhoun, 1992). Some authors differentiate between gradually and abrupt social change (Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2004). Examples of gradual social change are such as the growing proportion of older people in many Western societies (although some developed countries in Asia are following this path as well) or the change in women’s roles. The breakdown of the communist system in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union is a clear example of abrupt social change. Perhaps due to the great complexity of the phenomena, little research has focused on this latter type of social change. According to Bronfenbrenner’s model, social change may affect individual development through all of the ecological systems. At the macrosystem level, the new laws and institutions brought people new opportunities and also confronted them with new situations that they have Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 45 never met before. Further, the relation between different microsystems (the mesosystem) such as family and school, has changed. For instance, many childcare centers were closed, forcing many parents to invest more time in childrearing. In Inglehart’s work it is rather unclear how individuals or new generations shape cultural change. In fact, he addresses only factors such as information technology, growth of economic affluence, the rise of educational level as responsible for cultural change, without including the individuals, or groups of individuals. His perspective is different from Mannheim’s classic generation theory (1928/1929). Mannheim’s concept of generation refers to individuals who are born in the same historical period, who live in the same socio-cultural space and are aware of sharing similar youth experiences in their formative years. This latter conceptualization is important for the current study when comparing orientations of younger and older generations in the post-communist Romania. During the communist rule, fostering collectivism was a critical childrearing goal in childcare centers and schools, which was understood as cultivating a concern for the group, encouraging unquestioning obedience to authority, and developing subordination of the self in favor of group interests and demands (Ispa, 2002). Nowadays, one of the most salient characteristics is the shift from collectivist forms of social organizations and mentality toward individualist forms (see Reykowski, 1994). Formerly, the society was described as a harmonious whole where the state fulfilled, or at least pretended to fulfill, all the needs of its citizens including full employment, free education, free health care, affordable housing, and, in return, the citizens were obliged to sacrifice for the state. Historically and politically, we deal here with a form of imposed collectivism that unsatisfied many people (Nelson, 1988; Reykowski, 1994). Very soon after 1989, capitalism became very popular regardless of the social class. This enthusiasm was dampened drastically after the first decade of democracy, and it can be explained by the extreme difficulties brought by the transition period. On the one hand, people in the former communist countries lost their faith in the feasibility of the collectivist organization of the society. On the other hand, they encounter enormous difficulties when facing the demands of the democratic society, especially for the older generations. What can be said then about future values of these former socialist countries: will they fully give up the collectivist ideology and mentality to embrace individualism? Or will the old and the new coexist? But how is it possible? Reykowski (1994) indicated that in the Polish society, there 46 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development were three different paths of transformations: (a) the expansion of individualism; (b) the partial revival of collectivist ideology as a consequence of the hardship of everyday life under capitalism; (c) the emergence of an orientation, which contains both aspects (Kagitcibasi, 1997). In times of social change or modernization, values of both types (individualistic and collectivistic) may coexist. Kagitcibasi (2005) explains it, “modernization does not mean westernization” (p. 295). In her perspective, people from countries confronted with a process of modernization (like the shift from communism to democracy in Romania) have also other alternatives than simply adopting individualistic values. In this sense, she proposes the synthetic family model that stresses material independence and emotional interdependence in the parent- child relationship. Further, some support for the shift towards postmaterialist values was found in former East Germany as predicted by Inglehart’s theory (1990, 1997) due to economic development. Despite this, relatively high importance of family was still found (Mayer & Trommsdorff, 2003, July). Referring to countries from the former Soviet Union, Hart, Nelson, Robinson, Olson, & McNeilly-Choque (2000) argued that with regard to individualism-collectivism Russians fall between the Western and Asian orientations. Self-effacement and restraint seen in the Asian style were never characteristic in Russia. This may be one of the reasons that the ready acceptance of individualistic childrearing goals was found in Russia (Ispa, 2002) (see also 2.3.3). In a study on value change and value transmission conducted by Schwartz and Boehnke (1998), SVS (Schwartz Value Survey) was administered to 98 triads of East Germany university undergraduates and their parents. The findings provided support for both value change and values stability among students and their parents. All conservation values (tradition, conformity, and security) were more strongly emphasized by mothers and fathers as compared to their offspring. The openness values (hedonism, stimulation, and self-direction) all had higher means in the offspring than in the parent samples. These data speak for a generational trend moving from conservation to openness to change values (Boehnke, 2001). Indices for stability were found for self-transcendence versus self-enhancement values. Sigel (1999) assumed that where there have been changes, there are mixed feelings associated with a blending of collectivistic and individualistic goals and values. “New ideas do not simply replace older ideas; they blend with them to create unique cultural interpretations.” (Ispa, 2002, p. 409) Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 47
2.3 Independent and Interdependent Self-Construal
The basic characteristic of the self-construal refers to the degree to which a person sees him/herself as separate from or connected with others (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). This aspect is encouraged from very early in life, is shaped by culture and has tremendous consequences on the individual’s perceptions, evaluations, and behaviors (Geertz, 1975; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Triandis, 1989). Interests in studying the self has existed for a long time (Geertz, 1975; Marsella, DeVos & Hsu, 1985), but the concept of self in fact only gained in popularity with the work conducted by Markus and Kitayama (1991). Two types of self-construal were defined by Markus and Kitayama (1991): The independent self-construal is defined as a “bounded, unitary, stable” self that is separate from the social contexts. A person with a highly developed independent self-construal emphasizes on (a) internal abilities, thoughts, and feelings, (b) being unique and expressing the self, (c) realizing internal attributes and promoting one’s own goals, and (d) being direct in communication. Not only the own self, but also the others are perceived in terms of individual characteristic. An interdependent self-construal is defined as “flexible, variable” self that emphasizes on (a) external, public features such as statuses, roles, and relationship, (b) belonging and fitting in, (c) occupying one’s proper place and engaging in appropriate action, and (d) being indirect in communication and “reading others’ minds”. Individuals with highly developed interdependent self-construal value harmonious interpersonal relationship, see themselves and others as related to situations and take others and contextual factors into consideration when regulating their own behaviors.
2.3.1 Culture and self-construal
Although observations regarding differences in the representations of a person and the image of the self in western and non-western countries appeared in some earlier works (e.g., Geertz, 1973; Doi, 1973; Shweder & Bourne, 1984), special attention was paid to this field due to research conducted by Triandis (1989) and Markus and Kitayama (1991). The western perspective on the image of the self-construal, however, has dominated for a long time. Geertz (1975) puts it: 48 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development
“ … the Western conception of the person as a bounded, unique, more or less integrated motivational and cognitive universe, a dynamic center of awareness, emotion, judgment, and action organized into a distinctive whole and set contrastively both against other such wholes and against a social and natural background is, however incorrigible it my seem to us, a rather peculiar idea within the context of the world’s cultures.” (Geertz, 1975, p. 8)
The work by Markus and Kitayama (1991) has stimulated numerous cultural and cross-cultural studies. Many of these studies demonstrate that there are cultural differences in the predominance of one or another image of the self-construal (e.g., Kashima, Yamaguchi, Kim, Choi, Gelfand, & Yuki, 1995; Kitayama, Markus, Matsumoto, & Norasakkunkit, 1997). According to Triandis (1989), the self-contrual appears as a mediating variable between culture and behavior. He distinguished three aspects of a person’s self, namely the private (cognitions related to traits, states, or behaviors), the public (cognitions involving the generalized other’s view of the self), and the collective (cognitions regarding the self as embedded in a certain collective). Depending on situations, the individual selects (or samples) a certain type of these cognitions. This means that the self of each person contains all the three aspects, with the difference that some of the individuals are sampling primarily private cognitions whereas others sample collective cognitions more frequently. At this point, the culture plays a double-role: it influences the development of the self and defines the situations that people deal with. Triandis’ concepts of allocentrism (people who act, feel, and believe like collectivists) and idiocentrism (people who act, feel, and believe like individualists) are seen as closely related to the self-construal (or self-other relation) as described by the concept of independent self- construal versus interdependent self-construal (Markus & Kitayama, 1991, 1994). In the description of allocentrism and idiocentrism, Hui (1988) makes it clear their relations to the concept of self-construal:
“Human behavior is a function of both the person and the environment, physical and social. But people differ in the extent of integration with others and the social environment. Some do their “own thing”, without minding others. Some share others’ problems as well as joys. At one end of the scale are those who define the self independently of groups, and exist solely as “individuals”. They believe that they can Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 49
stand or fall on their own, and survive on their own. At the other end are those who see the self as an aspect of a group, and who value interdependence, even to the extent of submerging the individual in the group. These people consider the group (whatever it may be) or the collective as the basic unit of survival. This distinction is at the root of some basic differences in social behavior.” (Hui, 1988, p. 17)
Similar to Triandis, Markus and Kitayama (1991) assume that the self-construals within cultural groups are not homogenous, but rather tendencies or cultural ideals. For instance, men are generally more strongly independent-oriented than women. These results have been demonstrated by other studies as well (Fiske, Kitayama, Markus & Nisbett, 1998). The concept of self-construal plays an important role in this study. It has been documented that certain cultural norms (e.g., individualistic or collectivist norms) provide different developmental pathways for the self-construal (Greenfield, 1994; Greenfield, Keller, Fuligni, & Maynard, 2003). This suggests that values and self-construal are related with each other. Despite the relations between values and self-construal, both concepts also show different qualities in relation to the person. As argued earlier, self-construals describe the way how a person perceives himself in relation to the social environment. The self-construal always embraces the whole person and is highly relevant for the person’s identity. Values can have similar functions but values can also deviate from these ties since they represent more abstract cognitive representations. They may be less anchored in the person’s identity and may be more valid for a specific domain but not relevant for other domains. They can also change over time, whereas the self-construal is seen as rather stable. A person with an independent self-construal may find it even difficult to take the perspective of a person with an interdependent self-construal, whereas it is easier to understand that people prefer other values. The self-construal has direct implications for cognitions, motivations, and emotions (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Abstract values may sometimes even show inconsistency with specific behaviors.
2.3.2 The self: one dimension or two?
Following the concepts of independent and interdependent view of the self introduced by Markus and Kitayama (1991), Singelis (1994) argued that individuals in any culture could have both independent and interdependent self-construal. He developed a 24-items Self-Construal Scale 50 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development
(SCS), which were selected and reformulated (to make them appropriate for the students’ sample) from the already existing instruments measuring the two aspects of the self (e.g., Cross & Markus, 1991; Yamaguchi, 1994). His study confirmed the vision of individuals as two-sided. According to Singelis (1994), the self-construal is conceptualized as a constellation of thoughts, feelings, and actions concerning one’s relationship to others, and the self as distinct from others. Receiving much support from his study for the two aspects of the self, he came to the conclusion that it is possible to define cultural groups along a continuum of collectivism and individualism, but when the unit of analysis is the individual we must consider the two dimensions of independence and interdependence separately. Researchers stressed that on the individual level we deal with a more complex entity involving interrelated and sometimes conflicting or even discrepant selves (Markus & Wurf, 1987). A study by Trafimow, Triandis and Goto (1991) with Chinese and North American respondents also supports the coexistence of two (or more) selves in one person. Based on responses given to the 20 sentences beginning with “I am …”, they concluded that both culture and the nature of the prime (thinking in terms of how different or how similar they are from their friends and family) significantly affected the type of responses produced. The study by Cross and Markus (1991) exploring the stress and coping behavior among American and East Asian exchange students also found evidence for the two dimensions of the self. The East Asian students had a better developed interdependent self but were similar to American students in the development of the independent self-construal. Similar findings were revealed when comparing German and Brazilian mothers and teachers (Schaefermeier, 2004). To summarize, both aspects of the self-construal can coexist within a single person, but the culture encourage the predominance of one kind of self-construal over the other.
2.3.3 Self-Construal, Social Change and Intergenerational Differences
Based on her studies conducted in the modern Turkey, Kagitcibasi (1996a, 2007) differentiated between a relational and a separated self. The relational self conforms to the “family model of emotional and material interdependence” and is developed in agricultural subsistence economy with a collectivist life style. The family members depend on each other and the older generations expect a lot of support from the children. A separated self is found in the “family model of independence” where family members can live separate from each other without serious Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 51 consequences for their well-being. Kagitcibasi (1996a) proposed a third type of self called autonomous-related self that develops in the “family model of emotional interdependence” This model is found mainly in countries confronted with social changes and modernization processes (like urban Turkey) where in the socialization of the children parents stress both autonomy and emotional interdependence. In line with Kagitcibasi’s perspective, Ispa (2002) made valuable observations with respect to changes that have occurred in Russian childcare centers regarding the child rearing goals as seen by educators and parents. His study was based on observations in the classrooms and interviews with schools principals and educators. The educational goals that have remained essentially unchanged over a period of 10 years (1991-2001) are those concerning health matters, kindness, and good manners. Goals and values that have intensified or changed concern respect for individual differences, acceptance and even encouragement of independent thinking and acting. These changes are present in all the new pedagogical literature (e.g., “Every child is unique”; “The task of the adults is to preserve and cultivate the child’s individuality, curiosity and, and creative abilities”). Furthermore, children have more freedom to express their opinions and spend their time. Another change was having a greater emphasis on happiness and self- confidence as expressed by school principals when asked about their main goal for children. In addition, the academic pressure on teachers from the parents’ side is strong: childcare centers are expected to prepare children to begin first grade with a considerable amount of academic preparation in reading, math, and logical thinking (Carlson, Zvagina, & Sjolom, 1997). When asked about how they perceive the children today compared to the time before the upheaval, teachers were overall positive regarding the situation today. Some regrets were expressed though referring to a lack of discipline, less respect for school (“you don’t need much education in order to make money”), and also there were remarks pointing to how spoiled with material objects children are today. Teachers found that parents have changed a lot since Perestroika; they are more assertive and demanding. Thus, educators are obliged to accommodate to their wishes if they do not want to lose their jobs. In fact, their role has become to prepare children for the new competitive marketplace where creativity and assertiveness are valued the most (Ispa, 2002). To conclude, it is suggested here that abrupt societal change brings a new perspective on the image of the self. Essential changes seem to occur in the former communist countries in the 52 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development direction of a combination of autonomy and interdependence in the sense of self. Therefore, in formulating the hypotheses of this work with regard to older and younger generations in Romania, it is considered that individuals can be both independent and interdependent and this combination is stronger and even encouraged there where process of social changes occurs (see 2.7 for hypotheses).
2.4 Values and Self-Construal in the Post-Communist Romania
In the following, it is attempted to shed some light in the domain of value orientations among Romanians. Not many studies were conducted in this area in general. Only some of the large- scale multinational studies included Romania (such as the European Values Survey EVS, but not in the Hofstede’s study). Even though some information about Romanian adolescents’ values and expectations are available (e.g., Sacara & Iacob, 2002), there is still a clear need to pay more attention to theses areas in the future research.
2.4.1 Characteristics of Romanians’ values and self-construal after 1989
Based on data collected for the EVS from 1103 Romanians (>18 years older) in a comprehensive study, Voicu (2001) delimited three aspects that describe the type of pseudo-modern Romanian society: authority of the religious explanation, attitudes toward risk, and planning and fatalism. These aspects are discussed in the following. Authority of religious explanation. Over 70% of the population included in the sample believes that the Church provides adequate answers to problems of family life, 78% believe the same about the Church’s competence to meet their spiritual needs, and 71% see the Church as a good advisor for moral issues and needs of the individual. Furthermore, 43% of the respondents (more than half of those who expressed an opinion) think that the church offers adequate answers to social problems of the country. Romania is the European country (in the EVS survey) with the highest levels of confidence in religion, viewing it as a source of solutions for the challenges of life. Attitudes towards risk. 62% of Romanians prefer habit to new things. 85% believe that a smaller, but certain salary is better than a larger, otherwise uncertain one (51% believe this to a great extent, and 34% – to some extent). This low risk tolerance was explained by Voicu (2001) in the following way: the high expectations of 1989 were accompanied by a very well defined Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 53 representation of a possible better future, modeled after the prosperous societies in Western Europe and North America. As a result, the efforts were aimed at structuring a new social arrangement, similar to the Western one. The failure to achieve greater prosperity led to a change of social expectations. Because of lack of resources people return to their old way of living (and thinking) and reject any new experiences in order to feel that they have some control over their own lives (Voicu, 2001). With respect to orientation towards the religious explanations and aversion towards risks, the Romanian society seems – from a cultural point of view – rather a traditional society than a modern one. There are however signs that indicate modernity as well. Planning and fatalism. In contrast to earlier beliefs, Romanians reject fatalism. Two thirds of the Romanians think they can plan their life as they wish; this percentage is comparable with the one recorded in Western countries, which is among the highest in ex-communist countries and clearly higher than what is seen in the former Soviet states. Apparently, this belief in one’s ability to control their own fate is paradoxical, given the other responses reported so far: belief in the authority of the religious explanation and constant risk avoidance. Future research needs to explain these contradictions in beliefs. Finally, given the dramatic change towards a modern society and the accompanying economic struggle, it is not surprising that Romanians held a more materialist view compared to postmaterialist view. Data from the same study (EVS) have showed a trend towards more materialist values and less towards post materialist values among Romanians (Inglehart, Basanez, & Moreno, 1998). 44% of the sample reported holding “materialist values“ and only 7% reported “post materialist values”. According to the same data, only 44% of the respondents declared themselves as being satisfied with their lives, which is one of the most pessimistic countries in this study. When looking at the child rearing goals, findings of the same study (Inglehart et al., 1998) show that 24% Romanians responded that “independence” is a desired quality in their children and 20% reported “obedience” as being a wanted quality in their children. Having “good manners” was by far the quality preferred by most of the Romanians, namely 92% of them. Although scarce, the Schwartz Values were investigated in some studies conducted in Romania. Frost and Frost (2000) compared 217 Romanian University students with 201 American students and found differences between the two samples in six out of ten value 54 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development clusters. In conformity, Americans were higher than Romanians, especially in terms of obedience. As the authors interpreted, the rejection of obedience is possibly a result of the young generation’s rebellion against the extreme paternalism during Ceausescu (Frost & Frost, 2000). Americans rated higher the value of tradition, but no difference was found on the security value. These three values constitute the collectivist values in the study. Thus, American students scored higher on collectivist values than Romanians did. Furthermore, a highly significant difference was found for universalism, with Romanians giving more importance to aspects like wisdom, a world of beauty, unity with nature, a world at peace, social justice, and environmental protection. Apparently, the environmental disaster produced by the Communist party made people value these aspects to a higher extent (Frost & Frost, 2000). Moreover, mean differences between Americans and Romanians were revealed for self-direction and power, Romanians scoring higher than Americans. Regarding hedonism, Americans found this value more important than Romanians. No difference was found for stimulation. Again, in this study self-direction, stimulation and hedonism form the individualist values. Thus, it seems that as a whole both sample rate individualism to an equal extent, with Americans scoring higher on hedonism and Romanians on self-direction which was also the highest scored value among the ten. Another study conducted by Smith, Dugan and Trompenaars (1996) with large samples of organizational employee from many countries including the former Communist Bloc showed that despite a more collectivist orientation expected in the former Communist countries, Romania, together with other seven East European countries, expressed preferences for utilitarian involvement (individual rights and responsibilities in a job setting) as opposed to loyal involvement, and conservative commitment (understood in relation to ascription or stability of one’s “place” in the world) as opposed to egalitarian commitment (see Smith et al., 1996 for details). The utilitarian–loyal involvement dimension was thought as related to individualism- collectivism and the conservative-egalitarian commitment to the Hofstede’s (1980) power distance dimension. To summarize, it is obvious that no clear patterns of traditionalism or of modernism are to find among Romanians, but rather a mixture of them. It is, as Voicu (2001) called it, being guided by Winiecki’s (1988) definition, a pseudo-modern Romanian society: a society that is (partially) modernized culturally, in a chronic economic crisis, but in contact with post-modern cultures. Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 55
The pseudo-modern society is a society of a strained, dilemmatic, infirm modernity, oscillating between tradition and post-modernity.
2.4.2 Value orientations of Romanian adolescents
The construction of a belief system is an important developmental task in adolescence related to identity (cf. Erikson, 1988). With respect to the adolescent generations in Romania, they are trying to form their identity during a time when the society as a whole is searching for a new identity. It is important to integrate here studies conducted with younger generations since they represent one target group that was included in the current investigation. After the upheaval from 1989, some Romanian scholars in psychology became interested in studying the dynamics of the value system in adolescents and university students. One remarkable cross-sectional study was carried out using two cohorts and there were 15 years between the first and the second data collections. This offers a good opportunity to examine influences of the social changes in the 90s on youth values. The study was conducted by Sacara and Iacob (2002) and is based on data collected from 1,560 subjects (71% high school and 29% university students); 780 participants were interviewed in 1987 and 780 in 2002. The investigation was carried out in diverse rural and urban Moldavian regions, including the county of Bacau, where the families interviewed for the present study are located. Using a modified version of the Rokeach Values Inventory (Popescu-Neveanu, 1983), the participants were required to rank-order the importance of two types of values: terminal values or end states and instrumental values or ways to get there (see also 1.2.2 for further clarification on this measure). The investigators hypothesized that differences are expected between the two cohorts, between boys and girls, and between rural and urban areas. Interesting results were found in terms of both change and stability of the value systems in the young generation. First of all, changes occurred at the level of instrumental values, namely a shift from ‘relational’ values (e.g., honesty, readiness to help, politeness) to ‘action’ values (e.g., intelligence, imagination, courage, professional competence, responsibility). Sacara and Iacob (2002) viewed this change as a more salient pragmatism of the new youth generation. It was also found that in terminal values, there was a shift from ‘self-realization’ (e.g., social recognition, self-assurance, and utility) to affection satisfaction (e.g., personal harmony, happiness with love, and peace with others) when comparing the youth from 1987 with those from 2002. With respect 56 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development to gender differences, girls were more oriented toward action values than boys who showed more preference for relational values, and this is true especially when analyzing the data from 2002. Further, a high stability of values preferences was found in the rural areas between the two times. This means that the overall tendency to change was stronger among the children from urban areas. Moreover, university students as compared to high schools children had a stronger orientation toward action values. As a general conclusion of the study, a stronger orientation towards action values was found for the 2002-cohort, which was rather produced by girls, by children from urban areas and by university students. The findings of this study are helpful for the current investigation since the current data collection took place in the same year – 2002 –and was partly conducted in the same county. Another study with a similar design but with a much smaller sample was carried out by Ilut (2001). The sample consisted of 180 adolescents from the city of Cluj, a highly modern city in Transylvania (the central part of Romania). He also compared the value orientation of adolescents at a time interval of 15 years (1982-1997) based on Rokeach Values Inventory. In contrast to the results mentioned above, he found great support for the stability of value system in the two adolescents’ cohorts. The results of these two studies are contradictory and more research is needed to clarify the inconsistency. Another recent study gives some insight into Romanian adolescents’ values. The moral- ethical sensibilities and behavior norms of the young people were studied in the project called “The State of Romanian Youth”, carried out by the Youth Research Center in Bucharest and the Romanian Institute of Sociology. In order to get a more intra-cultural picture, responses were analyzed by taking gender, age, education level, and residence (urban vs. rural) into account. Here are the important results: a) It was found that fatalism is now less pervasive among Romanian youth than during the communist era, as they are more inclined to take personal initiative, be independence, and take responsibility for their lives. However, fatalist attitudes to life continue to persist among females, rural residents, and less-educated respondents. b) In the selection of most desired character qualities and personality traits, males opted for ambition, independence, perseverance, organizational skills, and logical thinking, while female prefer fairness, equality, good manners, honesty, and tolerance.
Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development 57 c) Respondents of both sexes recognized the imperative of social responsibility in conducting their private and professional life; this recognition increased with age, education level, and urban residence.
Overall, respondents into two groups were divided into two groups based on their responses, one socially engaged and pragmatic, and the other emphasizing the traditional values of morality and honor over social competence or contribution. Another interesting study coordinated by Alsaker and Flammer (1999) on future-orientation of East- and West-European and American adolescents, including a Romanian sample, showed a clear distinction between Western European and Eastern European adolescents. Notably, American youths were in most aspects more similar to youths from Eastern Europe. Western Europeans seemed to emphasize the importance of education, career, leisure activities, and traveling. In contrast, the Eastern Europeans and Americans seemed to stress becoming rich, famous, and professional, and the importance of taking care their parents, having children and being useful for their country. When thinking of future family, no gender differences were found in most participating countries. Romania was the only exception where boys were more interested in family issues than girls. Nurmi, Liiceanu and Liberska (1999) interpreted the high interest of Eastern Europeans in having money and fame as a consequence of the current rapid social changes toward free-market and capitalist economy, which might provide models of people who earned much money in a short time (‘nouveaux riches’), and, in turn, create unrealistic expectations in youths. Furthermore, the importance of taking care the parents and being useful to their country mentioned by adolescents from Eastern Europe could be an expression of the rather traditional types of values existing in these countries and the poor economic situation as compared to Western countries and the incapacity of the welfare system to provide real support for families (Nurmi et al., 1999).
2.5 Summary and Hypotheses
The present study deals with the question whether the younger and the older generation in Romania can be differentiated according to their preference for individualistic or collectivistic 58 Chapter 2: Culture and Individual Development values, and the independent or interdependent self-construal. Based on the theoretical and empirical evidence presented in this chapter, a generation gap can be assumed to exist in Romania. The parents generation examined in this study grew up in an autocratic social system, while the children have spent most of their lives under the new regime, including the kindergarten years. Similar assumptions are also applied to the self-construal. Therefore, the following hypotheses are derived for the current study:
It is expected that the older generation scores higher on collectivism than the younger generation, and the younger generation score higher on individualism as compared to the older generation (hypothesis 4). It is expected that the older generation shows a higher score on interdependent self- construal and a lower score on independent self-construal compared to the younger generation (hypothesis 5).
59
3 Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission
This chapter is divided into two parts: The first part explains the concept of cultural transmission with its basic characteristics and processes and presents empirical support for the intergenerational value transmission (3.1). The second part introduces similarities and differences in the relationship among mother, father and the adolescent child (3.2). Very importantly, the chapter focuses on moderating variables for the process of transmission from parents to children, including parenting style, parent-child relationship quality, the parental values agreement, and the perception of social change (3.3).
3.1 Intergenerational Value Transmission
3.1.1 Characteristics and processes of cultural transmission
Human species dispose of two essential ways to reproduce themselves, namely through biological and cultural transmission (Berry, Poortinga, Segall, & Dasen, 2002). The concept of cultural transmission has been used by Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman (1981) in order to parallel the notion of genetic (biological) transmission. While the genetic transmission refers to the genetic materials transmitted from the parents to the individual at the moment of conception, the cultural transmission makes use of teaching and learning mechanisms. Cultural transmission assures cultural continuity (Schoenpflug, 2001; Youniss & Smollar, 1985). Three forms of cultural transmission are often mentioned in the literature: vertical transmission (from parents to offspring), oblique transmission (from other adults to the developing individual), and horizontal transmission (from peers to the developing individual). All important theoretical approaches to cultural transmission (e.g., Boyd & Richerson, 1985; Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman, 1981) consider that the three forms, or directions, of transmission pass on different contents, though some overlapping exists. For example, vertical transmission includes personality treats, cognitive abilities, educational and occupational status, patterns of socialization, attitudes, political and religious beliefs, phobias, self-esteem, language and 60 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission linguistic usage, sex-role conceptions, sexual activity etc.; horizontally and obliquely transmitted traits include adolescent behavior, aggressive and moral behavior, clothing fashions etc. but also language and dialect, sexual behavior, and attitudes. Some researchers differentiate between absolute and selective transmissions (Rohan & Zanna, 1996), whereas others between absolute and relative transmissions (Vermulst, de Brock & van Zutphen, 1991). Taking a social evolutionary perspective on value transmission, Campbell (1975) suggests that the altruistic nature of inherited moral beliefs is related to the group survival. Similarly, the core social motives emphasize the social survival value of the social motives of belonging and trusting towards in-group members (Stevens & Fiske, 1995). Thus, through selective transmission one can understand, for example, that collectivism values will be more transmitted between generations because of its universal adaptive value for in-group thriving (Schoenpflug, 2001). Further, relative transmission of parental characteristics means that characteristics will be transmitted to some extent within the family but under the influence of social-cultural and historical conditions changes are observed too (Vermulst et al., 1991). The relative transmission is thus indicated by correlations between parents’ and children’ characteristics while mean differences between the generations might exist. In the last two decades, more and more has been written about the characteristics of reciprocity within the three forms of cultural transmission suggesting that the child is not only a recipient of the influences coming from different agents, but has also an active role in these relationships (Kuczynski, 2003). The forms and contents of transmission depend on the larger ecological and cultural context. The enculturation and socialization processes ensure that the developing individual acquires those behaviors that are necessary to live successfully in a given cultural setting. It is very important to mention here that cultural transmission is not a rigid process, and it does not necessarily lead to exact replications in the successive generations; rather it falls somewhere between an exact transmission (with no difference between parents and offspring), and a complete failure of transmission (with almost no similarity between parents and offspring). Researchers like Valsiner (1988) and also Boyd and Richerson (1985) indicated that both extremes would be problematic for a society. That is, exact transmission would not allow for novelty and change, while failure of transmission would not permit coordinated action between generations. Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 61
In general, cultural transmission involves two processes: enculturation and socialization. The concept of enculturation has been developed within the discipline of cultural anthropology and was first defined by Herskovits (1955). It refers to the “enfolding” of individuals by their culture, leading them to incorporate appropriate behavior into their behavioral repertoires. Enculturation is not necessarily a deliberate or didactic process. It involves parents, and other adults and peers in a network of vertical, oblique and horizontal influences, and in the end (in case of a successful enculturation) an individual is competent in the culture, including its language, its ritual, its values, and so on (Berry, Poortinga, Segall, & Dasen, 2002). Compared to enculturation, socialization is based on more specific instructions and training, it is a more deliberate shaping process of the individual, leading also to the acquisition of culture-appropriate behavior. The concept of socialization was developed in the disciplines of sociology and social psychology and later on became a key issue in developmental psychology. Like many other concepts in developmental psychology, socialization can be variously defined. According to Gardiner and Kosmitzki (2002) socialization is the process through which an individual becomes a member of a particular culture and takes on its values, beliefs, and other behaviors in order to function within it. Among other functions, socialization guarantees that important traditions will be passed to future members of the culture. From the beginning of the research on socialization of the young, parents have been regarded as primary socializing agents (e.g., Furstenberg, 1971). In the most recent Handbook of socialization that came out in 2007, Joan Grusec and Paul Hastings still emphasized that parents are the most important socialization agents that can influence children’s development. It is thus widely accepted that the family is the society’s primary instrument of socialization and it has definitely a clear head start compared to other institutions when it comes to socializing a child. As Clausen (1974) puts it, “[a] basic tenet of socialization theory – almost all the socialization theory – is that the child’s core value orientations are learned in the family.” As children get older, other factors come into play, such as schools, mass media, and peers. A key question for the socialization approaches has been how parents transmit what they know to their children in order to prepare them for the future (Youniss & Smollar, 1985). To address this question, the mechanisms of transmission, such as direct instruction, modelling, reinforcement, and communication, have been the main focus of research. In the traditional socialization view the child has been regarded as a passive recipient of the parental influences 62 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission with almost no consideration of the interactions between parent and the child. One criticized aspect here is that it overlooks internal dynamics within the relationship. The issue of bi- directionality in the parent-child relationship became salient only during the last years (see Kuczynski, 2003). The parents’ behavior and its underlying goals and beliefs can influence the quality of the relationship. Parenting is in turn affected by the parents’ personality, the child’s behavior and temperament. Most studies in the socialization area addressed the topic of vertical transmission from parents to their children (sometimes from grandparents to grandchildren). Values are considered as the hard core of culture, also regarded so in the dimensionalist approach described earlier (e.g., Hofstede, 2001; Schwartz, 1994). Therefore, much of the research on cultural transmission is focused on values (Cavalli-Sforza, 1993). From here the term often used in this work is derived, namely value transmission as a narrower concept within the broader cultural transmission concept. The current investigation takes two biologically related generations into account and focuses on values as vertically transmitted contents from parents to children (intergenerational value transmission). Children are also considered as playing an active role in the process of transmission, and these aspects are highlighted in one of the next sections when referring to moderator variables for the transmission process (see 3.3).
3.1.2 Intergenerational value transmission: a theoretical framework
According to Trommsdorff (in press) a more comprehensive theoretical framework for studying intergenerational cultural transmission is needed. This should include more variables, such as the relative and the interactive effects of the persons involved in the transmission, their interpersonal relationships, the contents to be transmitted, and the contextual factors. From her perspective, studies of cultural transmission need to specify who is transmitting, what contents are transmitted to whom by which means and in what contexts (Trommsdorff, in press). In the following I will discuss each of these aspects as they are approached in the present study. (a) The persons involved in the transmission process – parents and their adolescent children in the current study – influence the content and the extent of transmission based on their preferences, beliefs, and competences. Factors such as social status (or social capital), the developmental age, and the socialization experiences of these persons may be critically important here. When talking about developmental age, depending on the point of the life cycle a family Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 63 finds itself, different factors may turn out to be salient. Thus, it is not only the adolescent who is confronted with diverse changes (e.g., puberty, identity, autonomy), but also the adolescent’s parent, e.g., changes in “midlife crisis” (Rosenberg & Farrell, 1976; Levinson, 1978). These changes concern not only biological changes, but also perception of time and the future (e.g.,for parents in middle adulthood time can become limited). This concurrence of crises (midlife crisis and identity crisis as seen by Erikson, 1963) is likely to have an impact on the family relationships (Hamill, 1994). Moreover, when examining transmission in the family, both fathers and mothers have to be included. Although they might be similar in their importance in various regards, they may have different impact on the children (Boehnke, 2001). The seminal work of Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman (1981) showed that the extent of values transmission between parents and offspring largely depends on the congruity of father values and mother values. This means that treating them a priori as a unity overlooks an important source of variation (Boehnke, 2001). Moreover, the gender of the child is also an issue sometimes ignored in the research. Some studies only included male offspring (e.g., Rohan & Zanna, 1996; Schoenpflug, 2001). One important aspect to address here is the age at which one should measure children’s values, which may change considerably during the formative years (Kohn, 1983). The findings in this regard, as shown later, are not consistent at all. Some researchers expect that children’s values are largely similar to those of their parents when they are young (early adolescence) and thus are subjected to their parents’ influence in a significant way (Schoenpflug, 2001), whereas others consider that a certain level of cognitive development – the formal operational stage - is necessary in order to be able to understand and internalize the parents’ attitudes (late adolescence) (Rohan & Zanna, 1996; Vollebergh et al., 2001). Adolescence is the formative phase for establishing cultural orientations as corollary of the process of identity formation (Erikson, 1968). The establishment of an individual identity is related to the issue of autonomy, which is seen as the most important developmental task during adolescence - to achieve a mature and healthy sense of autonomy. Autonomy consists of two components: (1) emotional autonomy, which means the ability to rely on one’s own source of emotional strength rather than depending on parents to provide comfort, reassurance, and emotional security, and (2) behavioral autonomy, which means the ability to make one’s own decisions, to govern one’s own affairs, and to take care of one-self (Steinberg, 1990). Identity is a 64 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission person’s self-definition as a separate and distinct individual including behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes. Simply stated, the individual is trying to answer the question “Who am I?.” What makes this task of identity formation even more challenging is the fact that individuals must take into account not only their own view of themselves but also the views of others and of the society (Erikson, 1968). Therefore, identity is achieved through a complex process of judging oneself (1) as an individual, (2) in comparison with others’ judgments, and (3) in comparison to social and cultural norms (Gardiner & Kosmitzki, 2002). (b) The relationship between the persons is the second aspect involved in the transmission process and is often seen as the basic “transmission belt” (Schoenpflug, 2001; Trommsdorff, in press). This relationship can be characterized as emotionally closed or based on normative obligation, warm or rejecting, harmonic or conflictual. More information on this aspect will be discussed later on in this chapter (see 3.3.1 and 3.3.2). The current study focuses on the transmission of values and self-construal from parents to adolescent children. As already introduced, many and diverse changes occur during adolescence, which are also reflected in their relationship to their parents. For many decades adolescence period has been described as “a time of stress” and stormy. There is, however, little empirical support for this claim. Steinberg (1990) has argued that most of adolescents feel close to their parents and respect them as individuals and feel that their parents love and care about them. For those families with conflicts, it was demonstrated that the problems may already exist during childhood. Typically conflicts arise from matters of personal taste, such as styles of dress, preferences in music, and patterns of leisure activity, where adolescents are more influenced by their peers than by their parents, also because they start to spend more time with peers than at home. Unlike values, which develop gradually over time and are shaped from an early age, preferences and tastes are unstable and subject to immediate influences of the social environment. Nevertheless, adolescence is considered as a period of change and reorganization in family relationships and daily interactions, as adolescents spending increasingly less time in family activities (Larson & Richards, 1994). Approaching adolescence, children begin to change their views of their parents (Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986). They perceive them as ordinary people and stop idealizing them, as younger children tend to do. In order to develop their identity, the separation and individuation from Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 65 parents is thus a first premise. Recent literature has showed that the separation takes place within a context of closeness (Cooper, Grotevant, & Condon, 1983). (c) Moreover, the cultural transmission is assumed to depend on the contents of transmission. When considering values as the contents to be transmitted, the degree of concreteness and specificity of these values as well as their saliency (prolonged versus short- term) and visibility varies greatly. Such variations may affect the parent-child agreement or disagreement on any given orientations (Jennings & Niemi, 1968, 1981). For example, the educational and occupational goals, where Kandel and Lesser (1969) found substantial parent- child transmission, were considered to be more concrete and specific, more visible, and have longer-term saliency in the everyday lives of most people. (d) Furthermore, and particularly important for this work, value transmission takes place in a certain context, which can be more or less stable, and is characterized by culture-specific relationships, and different salience is given to the contents to be transmitted. The dynamics of the social-cultural and historical context in which generations follow each other provide the conditions under which every generation might need to distinguish itself from former generations (Dunham & Bengtson, 1986). In times of social change, it could be dysfunctional and inappropriate on parents’ side to force the children to see “the new world through old windows”. According to Trommsdorff (in press), one shortcoming of socialization research has been the neglect of contextual factors. In times of drastic socio-political changes, as is the case in Romania, the older and the younger generation may not have ready-made beliefs for many situations (Friedlmeier, 1996) and this fact can lead to the failed transmission of those that are no longer valid from one generation to another. Under these circumstances, the system of beliefs undergoes some revisions and a “battle” for regaining ready-made beliefs starts (cf. Stryker, 1980). These revisions are needed in order to build up future orientations and to develop a new basis for behaviour orientation. If the social environment does not function as a stable orientation system, the problem may be solved by affiliating to groups representing beliefs of the former system (cf. Trommsdorff, 1995). In acculturation studies on intergenerational value transmission, it is suggested that in a discontinuous cultural context with drastic changes, parents are presumably less motivated to transmit their own standards and attitudes to the next generation under the assumption that they will not be adaptive for their children in the future (Schoenpflug, 2001). 66 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission
3.1.3 Approaches to intergenerational values transmission
One main approach in the field of intergenerational values transmission is the two-steps model of internalization proposed by Grusec and Goodnow (1994). Here, the child is seen as an active contributor to his/her own development rather than a passive recipient of environmental influences. According to this model, the child first perceives the parent’s position (accurately or inaccurately), and secondly, the child accepts or rejects what is perceived as being parents’ viewpoint. Failure to internalize may occur either through inaccurate perception or through rejection. Empirical studies provide support for these two steps (Knafo & Schwartz, 2003; Okagaki & Bevis, 1999). Cashmore and Goodnow (1985) report that, although children were accurate in their perception of their parent’s position on values such as being neat or obedient, the children themselves placed a lower importance on these characteristics. Thus, the difference between generations reflected an accurate perception, but not an acceptance of parent’s values. The accuracy of children’s perceptions of parents’ socialization values has been demonstrated to be a strong predictor for parent-child value transmission (e.g., Cashmore & Goodnow, 1985; Kerckhoff & Huff, 1974). In this type of studies, adolescents are asked to report their own values or opinions and then they report what they believe their parents would answer with respect to the same matters (e.g., Cashmore & Goodnow, 1985; Whitbeck & Gecas, 1988). Their responses serve as bases to be compared with what parents held as socialization values, which is usually called perceived intergenerational values agreement in the literature. For instance, Knafo and Schwartz (2003) investigated 547 Israeli adolescents (age 16 to 18) and their parents using the Portrait Values Questionnaire with short verbal portraits of 40 people (e.g., “she really wants to enjoy life. Having a good time is very important to her” describes a person who values hedonism). To measure their own values, participants were asked “How much like you is this person?”. To measure perceived parental values, adolescents indicated “How would your father/mother want you to respond to each item?”. Finally, to measure socialization values, parents indicated “How would you want your son/daughter to respond to each item?.” They found that the tradition values were most accurately perceived by the adolescents and one can assume that the same values may be more likely to be accepted and that girls generally perceived the values of their parents more accurately. The results with regard to which values are accepted to the greatest extent will be presented in future studies, as Knafo and Schwartz (2003) reported. Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 67
An alternative procedure for measuring parent-child value transmission implies that both parents and children report independently their personal values and then they are compared. The comparison represents an indicator that is usually known as actual intergenerational values agreement. This procedure has been used in the majority of the empirical studies conducted in this area (Acock & Bengtson, 1980; Albert, 2007; Boehnke, 2001; Gecas & Schwalbe, 1986; Kandel & Lesser, 1969; Schoenpflug, 2001), including the current study. We treat here the children’s accurate or inaccurate perception of their parents’ values as a possible but not a necessary intervening variable from parents’ to children’s values. Empirical studies showed that perceived agreement is generally higher than actual agreement (Brody, Moore & Glei, 1994). Children’s values are better predicted by their perceptions of parental positions than by the positions that parents take (e.g., Whitbeck & Gecas, 1988). But, as mentioned above, these perceptions are sometimes inaccurate and the agreement between children’s values and these inaccurate perceptions of their parents’ values cannot be considered an evidence of parental influence on those specific issues as mentioned above. This suggests that that the use of adolescents’ reports of their parents values is not an accurate means of measuring the actual similarity of parents’ and adolescents’ values and beliefs. On the other hand, internalization, understood as taking over the parental values, is not always seen as the desired outcome of parental actions. Goodnow (1994) talks about “acceptable disagreement” instead of treating any lack of agreement across generations as conflict or unsuccessful socialization. From her perspective, the agreement is not the only good outcome, because there are situations when the parents regard the difference as unimportant, tolerable, and acceptable or even pleasing (Goodnow, 1994). Youniss and Smollar (1985) argue in their studies that mothers and fathers were perceived by their children as having expectations that they want their sons and daughters to meet, and the majority of sons and daughters clearly stated that they want to fulfill these expectations, which they also found relevant for their future and their own good. At the same time, they believe that the socialization theorists do not consider that parents sometimes do not necessarily want their children to have the same views of society as they have or to be in the same positions in the society as they are. As Youniss and Smollar (1985) put it: “For parents to leave adolescents on their own would be irresponsible. For parents to seek to duplicate themselves in their sons and daughters would be equally dysfunctional” (p. 93). 68 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission
3.1.4 Intergenerational values transmission: empirical studies
An overall picture of parent-to-child values transmission is difficult to draw. Generally speaking, there is only modest amount of empirical evidence for the transmission of values between parents and children, which is mainly related to political value orientations, religious values, and life styles (e.g., Bengtson, 1975; Jennings & Niemi, 1981; Kohn, 1983). Developmental psychologists, however, have given particular attention to the transmission of moral values or antisocial behaviors (e.g., Caspi & Elder, 1988). Nevertheless, some studies have been conducted on the topic of interest in this work, namely values and self-construal domain. Often, these studies are limited to one parent or they include either boys only or girls only. While some studies found strong support for the parent-child transmission (e.g., Kohn et al., 1986), others found weak transmission (e.g., Boehnke, 2001). In general, longitudinal studies found stronger support for the intergenerational value transmission than cross-sectional studies did. The values investigated vary from study to study, so do the methods used in these studies. Some of the studies that are most relevant to the current work are presented in the following. One study that found strong support for the transmission of self-direction from parents to offspring is a cross-national (partly) longitudinal study conducted in the U.S. and Poland by Kohn et al. (1986). One single dimension of values, self-direction versus conformity to external authority involving thirteen characteristics, was examined. The data came from representative samples of mothers, fathers and children (longitudinal data were available only from fathers). Parents and children were asked about their values for themselves. Additionally, parents were asked about their parental values meaning the values that parents would most like to see embodied in their children’s behavior, and children were asked about how they thought their parents would answer the same questions (accuracy in perception) (Kohn et al., 1986). The results provided evidence for strong influence of parents’ values of self-direction on the children’s values of self-direction. Moreover, they found that in the U.S. fathers play at least as large of a role as do mothers; in Poland mothers played a predominant role. They interpreted it as a cultural difference, namely through the traditional role on the division of labor and in the socialization of children that exists in Poland. They also found that the stratification position of the family (occupational status, education, income) has a considerable influence on the values of its offspring, through the parent’s values. Concerning the necessity of an accurate perception, Kohn et al. (1986) showed that accurate perception of fathers’ values is not essential for children to be Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 69 influenced by those values. It was the case only for the perception of mothers’ values. Another longitudinal study examined the intergenerational transmission of attitudes toward the private domain and economic domain, and attitudes toward ethnic minorities in a representative sample of 1,975 households in the Netherlands (Vollebergh et al., 2001). Parents and their adolescent or young adult child (aged 12 to 24 years) participated twice in the study, in 1991 and 1994. Attitudes toward the private domain measured tolerance toward nontraditional forms of living together; attitudes toward the economic domain measured efforts to reduce the socioeconomic differences in the Dutch society; and finally, attitudes toward ethnic minorities measured unfavorable attitudes toward the integration of ethnic minorities in Dutch society. Analyses were conducted using linear structural relations (LISREL). Bi-directional influences (parent to child, and child to parent) were tested, and separately for each age group (12-14, 15-17, 18-20, and 21-24 years of age). The results revealed a much stronger impact of parents’ orientations on those of their children than from children to parents, thus demonstrating that reciprocity in adolescence exists, but it is asymmetrical in nature (Vollebergh et al., 2001). Parental influence declined with increasing age of the children, with no parental influence in the oldest group. In a cross-sectional study conducted with 98 triads of East German university undergraduates and their parents Boehnke (2001) found that the transmission of parents’ values to the offspring values is fairly low on average. Schwartz Values Survey measuring 10 value types was used in this study where participants were asked to both rank and rate the values in question. Median correlation was r = .17 for mother-offspring and r = .12 for father-offspring. Similarities in the same-sex dyads are higher. That is, the median correlation was r = .21 for the mother- daughter dyads and r = .16 for the father-son dyads. The results revealed important gender differences. Only the results concerning the values of interest for the present study are reported here (conservation vs. openness to change): the relation between mother’s security and stimulation values and daughter’s respective values was significantly different from that in the mother-son dyads, where low and even negative relation were found. Furthermore, father’s values of conformity and hedonism were related to the same values of the daughter. These relations were statistically different from the father-son correlations where rather low correlations occurred. Generally, regarding the values of conservation and openness to change, it has to be noted that stronger similarities were found in the parent-daughter dyads as opposed to parent-son dyads 70 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission where even strong negative correlation has occurred, such as for conformity between mother and son. The correlations between parents were ranging from medium to high (from .17 for conformity to .47 for tradition values). Interestingly enough, it was found that intrafamilial value transmission is most successful for values that were ranked lowest by parents and offspring. These values were hedonism, stimulation, and tradition. One explanation would be that similarity between generations is achieved for those values that are not endorsed by the social mainstream (Boehnke, 2001). This study clearly emphasizes the necessity of consideration of both mothers and fathers and the gender of the child in the transmission process. Roest, Dubas, Gerris, and Engels (2005, August; 2007) investigated the degree of similarity among family members in the Netherlands using four different measurements for similarity (generalized distance scores, absolute difference scores, q correlations, and Pearson correlations) on a large palette of values. Data of the study came from 328 father-mother dyads, 325 father- adolescent dyads, and 374 mother-adolescent dyads. Eleven subscales of socio-cultural value orientations from the Felling, Peters, Schreuder, Eisinga, and Scheepers’ (1987) instrument were investigated. Based on confirmatory analysis, two dimensions were found: (1) traditional dimension, i.e., traditional family values, traditional role models, Christian ethic, work as a duty, and political traditionalism. (2) emancipatory dimension: i.e., alternative forms of family life, freedom in intimate relationship, social-criticism, hedonism, self-determination, and individual progressiveness. The findings showed higher father-mother value similarities compared to mother- adolescent and father-adolescent dyads independent of the similarity metrics used. Apart from that, the different metrics used in this study led to different results. In general, weak similarities occurred on the emancipatory value orientations such as self-determination compared to traditional values, similar to the findings reported by Schoenpflug (2001) on father-son similarities. The weakest similarities on traditional values were found on work as duty and on traditional family values. This study indicates the important differences associated with different measurements of the transmission between generations and such differences need to be considered when interpreting the findings of other studies. Highest ordinary correlations across emancipatory orientations occurred on alternative forms of family life and freedom in intimate relationship, whereas across traditional orientations, Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 71 the highest similarities (as suggested by distance and difference scores and ordinary correlations) were found for Christian ethic and political traditionalism. Similar findings were also reported in other studies using the same measurement (Okagaki & Bevis, 1999; Troll & Bengtson, 1979). Bengtson (1975) examined the extent of the transmission of “core” values (humanism/materialism and collectivism/individualism) from parents to adolescents in a sample of 256 parents-children dyads in the U.S. The parent-child similarities were generally moderate. Moreover, the similarities were greater on collectivism/individualism than on humanism/ materialism. At the same time, there was a stronger generational contrast associated with collectivism/individualism compared to other values. Bengtson (1975) interpreted these unexpected contrasts in terms of stronger salience of collectivism/individualism with respect to both family socialization and cross-generation influences. Generally, the family effects were higher than the generational effects, suggesting that the lineage influences are stronger than age influences in defining values. Using the Schwartz value inventory (56 values integrated into the 10 values types), Rohan and Zanna (1996) studied the degree of similarity between the value profiles (not individual value types) of male university students and their mothers and fathers. The results found that the average profile similarity correlation between children and their parents within each family was relatively high (r=.54). The average correlation between husbands’ and wives’ value profiles was even higher (r=68). In her study with German and French mothers and adolescents (14 to 17 years old), Albert (2007) examined the transmission of individualistic, collectivistic values and interdependent orientation from mothers to children. The short version of Schwartz and Bilsky (1990) instrument was used to measure collectivism and individualism, whereas a short version of Singelis’s (1994) Self-Construal Scale was used to measure independent- and interdependent self-construal. The direct transmission occurred among all the values and in both cultural groups. Although the similarities between mothers and children in the examined values were stronger in France, no significant differences were found between Germany and France. Overall the intergenerational similarities in the two countries were low to moderate. This can be explained partially by the abstract content of the values studied here (Albert, 2007). Results from the Berlin Longitudinal Study on Youth Development and Substance Use based on data from 431 mother-child dyads and 346 father-child dyads collected in 1986 and 72 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission
1987 found support for the intergenerational value transmission. The age of the students ranged from 11 to 17 years. It was showed that maternal values predicted adolescents’ beliefs with regard to religion, national defense, and the usefulness of technological innovations. Paternal values predicted adolescents’ beliefs with regard to religion, national defense, and the importance of work. Mothers had stronger influence than fathers. No influence of the parents on their children was found for beliefs regarding traditional social arrangements. A sample of 82 families with children between 9 and 15 years old was examined by Whitbeck and Gecas (1988) with respect to various values. The Rokeach’s (1973) Value Survey was used for the measurement of values. They found strong correlation between the mothers’ and the fathers’ personal values and their socialization values (the values they want to see in their children) indicating that it is safe to assume that parents attempt to socialize their personal values in their children. Generally, the results showed that very little association exists between children’s values and parents’ personal or socialization values. As hypothesized, the relation between the parents’ socialization values and children’s values was not stronger than the relation between the parents’ personal values and the children’s values. Nauck (1995, 1997) showed that attitudes of fathers and sons (e.g., collectivist values, sex role, utility of children) were correlated at r = -.02 - .26 (mean = .15), and attitudes of mothers and daughters at r = -.02 - .34 (mean = .15). The question of intergenerational value transmission has been especially prominent in acculturation research in order to predict the value orientation of the younger generation and how values are integrated into the new culture. For example, Schoenpflug (2001) found a selective transmission in a Turkish sample of fathers and sons in Germany. The sample included 200 Turkish father-son dyads of two regions within Germany and 100 living in Turkey. The 30 goal values from the value inventory by Schwartz (1992) were used. Participants were asked to rate the values as following: -1 = contrary to my values, 1 = not at all important for me, up to 7 = very important for me. Multiple regression analyses were conducted adjusted for age (of child), region, parental education and sibling position. In this study, predominately collectivistic values were transmitted from fathers to sons as these collectivistic values may serve a role in group maintenance (Schoenpflug, 2001). The educational level of the father influenced the extent of transmission: more transmission occurred at the medium and high levels of education. Contrary to the expectation, there was no stronger transmission in the Turkish families in Turkey compared Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 73 to those in Germany. Therefore, a continuous cultural context did not lead to stronger intergenerational transmission. Similar results were reported by Phalet and Schoenpflug (2001) with data from Turkish and Moroccan immigrant families in Germany and the Netherlands. Here, it was hypothesized that higher collectivism and conformity pressure is put on male, being the future caretakers of their parents, as compared to girls. The results showed more individualism and less conformity in the socialization of daughters, but no significant gender differences were found with respect to collectivism. Knafo and Schwartz (2001) showed that there is less similarity between generations of migrants compared with families of the receiving society. This result is perhaps due to perceived inconsistencies and uncertainty in orientations of the transmitting parents. To summarize, most studies have found low to moderate transmission of values from parents to offspring. Results were overall inconsistent; one reason could be related to the fact that the content to be transmitted was diverse in these studies. No consistent patterns were reported with respect to different contributions of fathers or mothers on the value orientations of daughters/sons. The different and generally low magnitude of the transmission in the studies mentioned above suggest that the transmission of values is a complex process which may be influenced by moderating variables, such as parenting style (see 3. 3).
Intergenerational value transmission or cultural stereotype?
It is important to note that not all parent-child similarities can be regarded as a proof of parental influence (Seginer & Vermulst, 2001). The similarity within the family might be influenced (or biased) by a cultural stereotype, a term first used by Cronbach (1955), and it refers to a shared cultural or normative influence leading to typical responses of individuals. Only a few studies investigated this idea of biased value transmission among family members and different labels were given to the cultural stereotype. Knafo and Schwartz (2003) used the term of shared social conventions; Rohan and Zanna (1996) refer it as culturally shared aspect; and, finally, Boehnke and colleagues (2002) prefer the term of Zeitgeist, which is understood as a particular value climate of a certain time. Roest et al. (2005, August; 2007) examined the influence of a cultural stereotype on values similarity among three family members (mother, father, and adolescent child) using four different similarity metrics as reported above. The influence of a cultural stereotype on values similarities 74 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission was dependent on the metrics used. No influence was found when calculating ordinary correlations across values between pseudo family dyads. When using the other metrics (see above), the cultural stereotype accounted for the parent-child similarity on traditional family values and on hedonism, self-determination, and individual progressiveness. Other value similarities, such as Christian ethic, political traditionalism, and alternative forms of family life were not influenced by a cultural stereotype. One very interesting finding was that very few of the mother-father values similarities were affected by a cultural stereotype, similar to those found by Rohan and Zanna (1996) and suggesting that fathers and mothers are a more unique dyad than parents and their adolescent children (Roest et al., 2007). The authors concluded that although some parent-child similarities were biased by their immediate social environments, unique parent-child similarities were found on the level of value dimensions (traditionalistic and emancipatory) and on value orientations such as Christian ethic, political traditionalism, and alternative forms of life. Testing for the contribution of the culturally shared aspect of values, Rohan and Zanna (1996) found that the difference between the average profile similarity correlation for properly matched parents and their adult children and the average profile similarity correlation for randomly matched parents and children only approached significance. These findings are used as arguments for the present study, which starts from the assumption that although there may be some influences of “cultural shared aspects”, the parent- child similarity has some unique characteristics.
3.1.5 Hypothesis with regard to direct transmission
The intergenerational transmission will be examined here with respect to individualism/ collectivism and interdependent/independent self-construal. The study focuses on two different generations of the same family, with data collected at one time point. The empirical findings reported in this chapter are not always consistent: some reported (especially the longitudinal research) a moderate parent-child value transmission, others (especially cross-sectional studies) low transmission. Nevertheless, based on the main assumptions of the socialization theory introducing the parents as main agents for children’s acquisition of values, the following hypothesis is derived: Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 75
It is expected that a positive relation between the collectivistic/individualistic values and the self-construal of the parents and the respective values and self-construal of the children exists (hypothesis 6).
As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the strong transformation occurring in Romania may weaken the direct transmission from parents to children. This is one reason for which the moderating variables are included in this model (see 3.3).
76 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission
3.2 Parents-Adolescent Relationship
3.2.1 The role of mother and of father for adolescents’ development
Most of the studies that focused on the associations between adolescent development and parents relationships have not explicitly dealt with the specific role of fathers versus mothers. One of the main questions of the current study addresses the distinctive contribution of each parent to adolescent development. Compared to the core features of mothering (nurturance and protection) that are more universally recognized, there is much less consensus with respect to fathering and what “good fathers” mean (Lamb, 2000). Psychological research did not widely consider the role of the father in child development until the last three decades, when Lamb (1975) published his article “Fathers: forgotten contributors to child development”, he marked a beginning point of a new perspective on the fathers’ contribution. Still most of this research focused either on the transition to fatherhood or the fathers’ relationship to infants and young children. Starting in the mid-1980s, there has been an increasing number of scholars focusing the father-adolescent relationship. However, they still mostly provided descriptions of this relationship and only rarely examined the impact of fathers have on their adolescent child. Overall, the study of father-adolescent relationship is still in its infancy (Hosley & Montemayor, 1997). Concerning the differences between father-infant and father-adolescent relationship, some studies focus more on the changing aspect whereas others on the relative stability over the lifespan. Some researchers see a dramatic transformation in the father-child relationship when children enter adolescence. On the one hand, adolescents are confronted with changes in many areas, including physical development, cognition, and social relations. On the other hand, physical and psychological changes also occur in fathers during middle-adulthood. For example, life-span theorists have suggested that middle-aged men become more expressive and nurturing, a process known as sex-role convergence (Jung, 1933). Additionally, men at this age feel a desire to guide and mentor the next generation, including their own children (Erikson, 1963). As consequences, fathers may redefine their parenting role in an attempt to become more involved in the lives of their adolescent children. At the same time, their adolescent children may make efforts to become more autonomous and to establish their own sense of identity. These changes on both sides could sometimes lead to intergenerational conflicts (Hosley & Montemayor, 1997). Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 77
3.2.2 Theories on father’s and mother’s contribution to child’s development
There are a few theories hypothesizing differences and similarities between mothers’ and fathers’ relationships with adolescent children. For example, according to the Freudian psychoanalytic theory, the father is introduced only when the child is around the age of 3, when the oedipal complex arises. Until then, the mother and the infant were described as a unit. The father is perceived as a distant and powerful figure and the child identifies with and takes him as model in the development of the superego. Somewhat different from Freud, Margaret Mahler and Melanie Klein introduce the father at an earlier age and attribute different functions to him in the development of the child as compared to mothers; they are more tolerant of children’s explorations and that is perhaps why their company is sometimes preferred to that of mothers. They also contribute to a healthy separation between mother and child. Taken together, the psychoanalytic approaches suggest that though the father may seem distant, he contributes distinctively to the development of the child. Although psychoanalytic at its roots, the attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969, 1973) did not point to a specific role of the father; they even use the term “caregiver”, thus omitting a conceptual discussion of the distinctiveness of fathers and mothers. The mother is usually the primary attachment figure and the father a possible additional attachment figure, but not necessarily. The role theory suggests that there may be important differences between mother’s and father’s contributions. The traditional role of the fathers was defined as being a breadwinner and a firm disciplinarian (Feldman & Elliot, 1990). This fact was mainly the consequence of the numerous papers in sociology where the father was considered the bridge between the family and the external world without much contribution within the family. This perspective is particularly known in Parsons and Bales’ (1955) theory, which characterizes the male role as primarily instrumental in nature, responsible for the social and economic position of the family, whereas the female role is primarily oriented towards the home and is expressive in nature. It is the mother who determines the emotional and affective climate in the home and is responsible for raising children. This image of the “uninvolved father” influenced the research in developmental psychology, resulting that studies are mainly focused on the mother-child dyad. In the meantime changes in role definitions have gradually occurred and the “new father” is seen as someone who spent more time with and take more interest in their children (Stearns, 1991). In spite of these 78 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission changes, there is still insufficient research done in this area. Nevertheless, some distinctive features are well documented.
3.2.3 Distinctive features of mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationship
With a series of eight studies conducted by Youniss and Smollar over a 4-year period (1980- 1983) with 1,049 adolescents ranging in age from 12 to 19 years and approximately equally represented by males and females, major progresses in the understanding of the domain of adolescent relationships to mothers, fathers, and friends were made. Their research focused on salient issues during adolescence such as typical and enjoyable interactions with parents and peers, communication, conflicts, perceived obligations, self in relationships, with particular focus on differences in relationship to mothers versus fathers. Although the studies are limited to white subjects from middle-class American homes, their findings are of great contribution in the field. Therefore, a number of the findings are presented in the following. With respect to daughters-parents relationship, the summarized results provide a clear-cut and consistent picture. Fathers are perceived as authority figures that provide advice on practical matters. They do offer supports sometimes. But the supports often lack emotional content and are given from a certain distance. Contacts occur infrequently and they usually lack intimacy, understanding, and acceptance, but real conflicts do not happen. Thus, the father-daughter relationship is rather a “nonrelation” than a negative one (Youniss & Smollar, 1985). On the other hand, the mother-daughter relationship provides a more complex picture in the sense that it is a combination of authority and equality, intimacy and conflict. They see their mothers as authority figure, but not as distant ones. Daughters feel free to confide in their mothers, as well as to fight with them. Concerning about emotional support, the relation is characterized by reciprocity (i.e., not only do mothers offer support for daughters, but also vice versa). Mother and daughters do face conflicts, but they do it in a very caring way. Sons-parents relationship may be described as authority relations. Sons do not perceive themselves as equal to their parents and also believe that parents make this distance clear. Father- son relationship is mainly characterized by respect. They share work and recreational activities together, otherwise in a rather distant manner. Mothers are also perceived as authority figures, but the relationship is somehow closer and based on openness and the sharing of confidences. Sons Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 79 perceive their mothers as monitoring them from perspectives of concern and love, although occasionally this concern may be seen as too intrusive (Youniss & Smollar, 1985). There are the distinctions between the father-son and mother-son relationships, but they are not as strong as in daughters’ case. Generally speaking, researchers examined five major characteristics of the father- adolescent and mother-adolescent relationship: (1) the amount of time spent together; (2) communication and involvement; (3) closeness; (4) conflict, and (5) power. All these aspects will be discussed in more details here. 1. Time spent together. It is often said that adolescents spent less time with both parents than the younger children. This is related to the increase in the time spent with peers, friends, extracurricular activities or simply the desire for autonomy. It has also been said that adolescents spent more time with mothers. At the same time, Larson and Richards (1994) found that adolescents spent indeed more time physically close to their mothers, but they are often engaged in separate activities. Despite the less amount of time spent with their fathers, adolescents reported that they were satisfied with the role fathers play in their lives (e.g., Hanson, 1988). What is suggested here is that maybe not quantitative, but mainly qualitative aspects of the parent-child relationship should be considered. 2. Communication and involvement. Communication is another important aspect of parent- adolescent relationship and here some mother-father differences are seen. For instance, adolescents, especially females, report less intimacy with fathers than with mothers, and this sometimes applied for most of the issues assessed (Noller & Callan, 1990; Youniss & Smollar, 1985). Moreover, adolescents reported that fathers as compared to mothers have less knowledge of them (Youniss & Ketterlinus, 1987). In a study conducted with 12, 14 and 16 years old Israeli high school students, adolescents were asked to rate the level of paternal and maternal involvement regarding seven issues (Shulman & Seiffge-Krenke, 1997). The results showed that mothers were more involved in day- to-day issues such as what to wear and with whom to go out. With respect to more important issues, such as studies and discipline, there was no difference between the involvement level of mothers and of fathers. In the same study, adolescents were asked to answer “What is a good father?” “What is a good mother” and “”What is the difference between a good mother and a good father”. They responded: “A good father is stricter and more peer-like; a good mother cares, 80 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission is more at home” (Male, 12) and “A good mother is more spoiling, helps me, teaches me to cook. A good father helps mainly in learning new things, building things” (Male, 14). Another results of the study showed that fathers perceive their growing adolescents as less dependent than mothers do and make them believe that they can rely on them. What is suggested here is that fathers and mothers interact with their adolescents in different ways. Fathers are indeed less engaged in their adolescent child’s life, but when they are involved, they do this in a peer- and play-like manner. 3. Closeness and identification. Closeness is often defined as a feeling of warmth, acceptance, connectedness, attachment, and affection. Although many studies found that adolescents generally feel close to both parents, they report closer feelings towards mothers than fathers (e.g., Miller & Lane, 1991). Researchers revealed that there are the fathers who differentiate between sons and daughters, but not the mothers. Fathers are less affectionate with their adolescent sons than with their adolescent daughters. Seginer (1985) investigated the relationship between school performance of adolescents on the one side and the perceived similarity to parents and emotional closeness to parents on the other side. Results showed that perceived similarity to the father was related to females’ academic performance, whereas emotional closeness to the father was negatively related to males’ academic performance. Relationship to mother has no influence. It does suggest that when girls are strongly attached to their fathers, they might idealize them and thus conform to their values and commit themselves to father’s values. It does not happen similarly for boys: a close relationship to the father might interfere with males’ progress towards autonomy and thus closeness can be related to a lower level of academic achievement. Referring to the study mentioned above, Shulman and Seiffge-Krenke (1997) interpreted the reported “distant“ behavior of fathers as supporting their adolescent children to better experience separateness, which may serve an adaptive function in the developmental process. Indeed similar to the basic ideas suggested in the attachment theory. what counts in this period of life is not the low immediate presence of the father, as noticed above, but the strength of inner confidence in the availability of the parent (Shulman & Seiffge-Krenke, 1997). This apparently “distant” model is what adolescents need at this period of separation and individuation. Fathers in their natural attitude are more capable of balancing closeness and separateness than are mothers. It is very interesting that adolescents do not perceive their fathers as distant; on the contrary, they Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 81 see them as supporting their independence and even expect them to set goals and limits for them (Shulman & Seiffge-Krenke, 1997). 4. Conflict. Both parents and adolescents reported that adolescents have fewer arguments with fathers than with mothers, with mother-daughter conflicts more frequent than mother-son conflicts (e.g., Smetana, 1988). One explanation is that mothers and daughters spent more time together. Concerning the topics of conflicts, Ellis-Schwabe and Thornburg (1986) found that adolescents reported more conflicts with their mothers related to personal issues, such as clothing choices, and more conflicts with their fathers related to practical issues, such as use of the phone. This finding is consistent with the literature on parent-adolescent communication, where mothers are involved in emotional issues and fathers in practical, instrumental issues. 5. Power is often defined as the amount of influence family members have in decision- making or in the degree of control over the family members (Hosley & Montemayor, 1997). The areas where mother and father exert control are different, again mother in relational topics, and fathers in instrumental, problem-centered interactions with adolescents. Gecas and Schwalbe (1986) examined the relationship between perceived parental behavior (control/autonomy, support and participation) and adolescent perceptions of self worth and self- efficacy. The paternal control was the strongest predictor for boys: the more the father was perceived to exert control, the higher level of self-efficacy they reported. Girls’ self-esteem (both self worth and self-efficacy) was most strongly related to parental support and degree of participation. Although for girls the influence of mothers and fathers was similar, fathers had a slight edge. Power and Shanks (1989) interviewed mothers and fathers of adolescents regarding the behaviors they encouraged and discouraged in seven areas: self-care behaviors, household responsibilities, household rules, prosocial behaviors, problem behaviors, other behavior with peers, and independence. Results showed that fathers were more involved in encouraging instrumental behaviors such as assertiveness and independence. Mothers reported to encourage interpersonal behaviors such as manners and politeness, and adolescents’ involvement in domestic chores. After reviewing a number of studies regarding the distinctive contributions of the mothers and the fathers to adolescents’ development, Hosley and Montemayor (1997) concluded that fathers might have a greater impact on their adolescents in areas where they are more involved 82 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission than mothers or where they serve as primary role models. Overall, they found that adolescent outcomes are predicted more by characteristics of their relationships with their mothers than with their fathers. The greater amount of time spent with mothers, as well as the greater intimacy, disclosure, and closeness that adolescents report with their mothers, makes mothers more influential in some respects. However, fathers are not unimportant. Their impact is limited to specific areas, such as discipline or identity formation process. Concerning family investigations conducted in Romania, Barometrul de gen (Gender Barometric, 2000) found that when asked “who is responsible to take care of children in a family”, the majority of both men and women (71%) agrees that both partners are responsible for that. When asked concretely who exactly does certain tasks in the family, the results revealed a different picture: (1) 69% of the respondents answered that it is women who take care of children on a daily basis, 23% answered that both parents do this task and only 3% answered that fathers take over this task; (2) 64% answered that only women look after children’s homework and leisure time while only 8% answered that men do this; (3) mostly women bring children to school and to the doctor (68% and 66% respectively). The results seem paradoxical because, theoretically, they agree that both mothers and fathers are responsible for the child-rearing. Pasti (2003) interpreted these results in terms of power of the father over their children: their understanding of responsibilities towards children is more related to their right above the children and children’s obligations towards them than sharing the responsibilities with mothers. In their view, women have a natural talent to educate the children. These results point to the existence of traditional roles in the Romanian families: while the father is “the breadwinner”, the mother is responsible of taking care of the family and the children, apart from having a job outside the house (see also 1.2.3.2). To summarize, in terms of quality of relationship, there are sharp differences between mother-child and father-child relationships during adolescence. These differences become even more salient when the gender of the child is considered. In terms of different functional meaning, it is suggested and empirically demonstrated that fathers influence their children in rather instrumental aspects, whereas mothers in relational matters. Still there is no consensus with regard to which parent influences which values, behaviors or abilities. Nevertheless, the research discussed here makes clear how important it is to consider both parents when analyzing parent- child relationship. Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 83
3.3 Moderators of the Intergenerational Values Transmission
Despite the considerable amount of interest in the process of transmission, little is actually known about the conditions that foster the similarity between parents and offspring with regard to different attitudes and beliefs. Discussions on this topic are more theoretical than empirical (Kohn, 1983; Stryker & Serpe, 1983). Anyway, the empirical investigations of value transmission conducted so far showed that the transfer depends on family-specific conditions, e.g. parenting style, parent-child relationships (e.g., Cashmore & Goodnow, 1985; Grusec & Goodnow, 1994; Whitbeck & Gecas, 1988) as well as on gender-specific relations between the four family dyads (mother-son, mother-daughter, father-son, father-daughter) (e.g., Boehnke, 2001; Brody, Moore, & Glei, 1994). In the following, the concepts that may have an impact on the extent of the value transmission will be outlined: the parenting style, the quality of parent-child interactions, the degree of agreement between the mother and the father on the examined values and the self- construal, and the degree of similarity in the perception of the social change between the mother/the father and the child. With the investigation of these moderator variables, it is considered that the intergenerational transmission of values is a highly complex process, in which children have an active role (as opposed to simply being the recipients of parental influence).
3.3.1 Parenting style
One widely accepted theory in the field of parental behavior toward children is developed by Diana Baumrind (1978). Her research was inspired by Lewin’s (1966) work on leadership styles (authoritarian, democratic, laissez-faire). According to her perspective, two aspects of the parent’s behavior toward adolescent are of critical importance: parental responsiveness and parental demandingness. Parental responsiveness/acceptance refers to the degree to which the parents respond to the child’s needs in an accepting and supportive manner. Parents who are classified as accepting often smile at, praise, and encourage their children, express a great deal of warmth, though they can become quite critical when their children misbehave. Parental demandingness/control refers to the extent to which the parent expects and demands mature, responsible behavior from the child. Controlling/demanding parents place limits on their children’s freedom of expression. 84 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission
These two dimensions are more or less independent of each other and the combination of the two leads to four general patterns of parental behavior: (1) Authoritative parents are warm but firm. They place high importance on the development of the child’s autonomy and self-direction and, they engage with them in discussion and explanation over matters of discipline. In other words, authoritative parents exercise control in a rational, democratic manner that recognizes and respects their children’s perspective. (2) Authoritarian parents place a high value on obedience and conformity. Parents establish the rules and children should accept them without question. They do not encourage independent behavior. On the contrary, they restrict child’s autonomy. (3) Indulgent/permissive parents are responsive to child’s needs, but they do not make any specific demands on child’s behavior. They let them free to act as she or he wishes. (4) Indifferent/uninvolved parents are neither responsive nor demanding toward the child. They know little about their child’s activities and whereabouts, show little interest in their child’s experiences at school or with friends, and rarely discuss with their child. They do not raise their child according to a set of beliefs about what is good for the child’s development. There is much evidence to support that authoritative parenting is associated with healthy adolescent development (e.g., Maccoby & Martin, 1983; Steinberg, Lamborn, Darling, & Mounts, 1994). Adolescents of authoritative parents are more socially competent, more responsible, more self-assured, more creative, more curious, and more successful in school than their peers with authoritarian, indulgent or indifferent parents. Why is authoritative parenting associated with positive social, emotional, and intellectual outcomes? First, it maintains a balance between restrictiveness and autonomy, and gives children more independence gradually as they get older, which helps children to develop self-reliance. Second, because authoritative parents are more likely to engage their children in verbal give-and- take, and in this way they stimulates their thinking and help them to understand social systems and social relationships. Third, because authoritative parenting is based on a warm parent-child relationship, adolescents are more likely to form strong attachments to their parents, which might make the parental influence stronger. To summarize, it appears that authoritative parenting – warmth combined with moderate and rational parental control – is the parenting style most consistently associated with positive developmental outcomes. Children apparently need love and limits, a set of rules that help them Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 85 to structure and to evaluate their conducts (Shaffer, 1999). For the present study conducted with Romanian families, the Parental acceptance-rejection theory (PART) was used. This is an evidence-based theory of socialization and life-span development that attempts to predict and explain major causes, consequences, and other correlates of parental acceptance-rejection within the United States and worldwide (Rohner, 2004). Studies have shown that parental acceptance is universally related to positive child outcomes (e.g., Khaleque & Rohner, 2002). Cross-cultural evidence supports the conclusion that children and adults who experienced their relationship with parents as being rejecting tend universally to self-report similar psychological characteristics (Khaleque & Rohner, 2002; Rohner, 1975, 1986): (a) hostility, aggression; (b) dependence or defensive independence; (c) impaired self-esteem; (d) impaired self-adequacy; (e) emotional instability; (f) emotional unresponsiveness, and (g) negative worldview. According to the Personality Subtheory of PART (Rohner, 1986), rejected children are expected to feel anxious and insecure. They tend to have more negative worldviews than accepted children, to develop distorted mental representations of self, significant others, and of the world around them. While parental acceptance and rejection show universal effects on children’s outcomes (e.g., Khaleque & Rohner, 2002), the results differ with respect to parental control which is rather perceived as constraint by adolescents in individualistic contexts, but experienced as a support by adolescents in collectivistic contexts (e.g., Rohner & Pettengill, 1985; Trommsdorff, 1995, 1999). Albert, Trommsdorff, and Mishra (2005) found that in India the more control mothers reported, the more comfortable with closeness, more able to depend on others, and less anxious were their adolescent children, whereas in Germany, controlling behaviors of mothers were associated with anxiety in their children. For the current study the children’s self-reports concerning parenting style and parent-child relationship quality were considered since many studies have pointed out that children may be more affected by how they perceive parental behavior than by the actual behavior itself (e.g., Schaefer, 1965). As Kagan (1978) wrote: “parental love is a belief held by the child, not a set of actions by a parent.” (p. 61) 86 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission
3.3.2 Parenting and relationship quality as moderators of the intergenerational value transmission
Parenting style and parent-child relationship quality are two different concepts, though empirically related. While parenting is more goal-directed, the parent-child relationship has a more bi-directional character. These two aspects where included in the current study as moderating variables of the intergenerational value transmission. There is some support for the positive relation between warmth/responsiveness and parent- child value transmission (Darling & Steinberg, 1993; Rohan & Zanna, 1996; Schoenpflug, 2001; Whitbeck & Gecas, 1988). In a longitudinal study conducted by Brody and colleagues (1994), the relationship between parental warmth assessed in 1981 and parent-adolescent attitude similarity assessed in 1987 was examined. The data came from 592 families that participated in the National Survey of Children. It was found that warm relationship with fathers fostered the parent- adolescents similarities with respect to issues such as attitudes about marriage and divorce, sex roles, welfare, child support, and teenage childbearing. Surprisingly, maternal warmth had no significant effect. The association between paternal warmth and value transmission was explained in terms of provisions derived from relationships with others (Weiss, 1974). Fathers can provide for their teens guidance, attachment, and reassurance of worth (respect for abilities and personal qualities). Those fathers who provide these provisions are seen as warm and supportive by their children and, in turn, they are more likely to listen to and consider the father’s points of view on a variety of issues (Brody et al., 1994). Weisheit, Wicki and Grob (2004, July) investigated the extent to which closeness in family relations is related to family transmission in a study conducted with 149 Swiss families and 96 Siberian families. Adolescents and young adults (16 to 25 years old) and one of their parents were included in the study. The importance attributed to certain life goal was analyzed here (e.g., “to have fun”, “to contribute to the common good”). They found that closeness with the parents as reported by children was positively related to the transmission from parents to adolescents in the Swiss sample. With respect to gender difference, a significant relation between closeness and transmission in the family was found only for sons. These results could not be replicated in the Siberian sample. Besides a model of direct transmission (see 3.1.4), the influence of the quality of mother- child relationship in terms of intimacy, admiration and conflict on the value transmission was Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 87 examined by Albert (2007) in German and French mother-adolescents dyads As expected, intimacy between mother and child and admiration from mother were associated with an increase in the transmission of collectivistic values from mothers to children in the German sample. No moderating effects were found for individualistic values and interdependence. Furthermore, the moderators included here had no influence on the transmission of the same values from mothers to adolescents in the French sample. Moreover, conflict was not a moderator for the transmission of values. As reported earlier in this chapter, being attentive to child’s needs and showing the child that he or she is loved may increase the child’s desire and motivation to spend more time with the parents and to attend to their values (Knafo & Schwartz, 2003). The study mentioned earlier in this chapter conducted by Rohan and Zanna (1996) using the Schwartz Value Inventory, apart from a direct intergenerational transmission of value profiles, found that the parental right-wing authoritarianism (conventionalism, aggression, and submission) moderated the parent-adult child value transmission. The more right-wing authoritarian parents were in their beliefs, the less likely their children were to grow up holding similar value profiles. Moreover, perceived parental responsiveness was significantly positively related to parent-child transmission, whereas perceived parental demandingness was negatively related to parent-child value profile transmission, though not significantly. It is suggested here that the parents’ responsiveness played a more important role in whether or not parental values are passed on to children (Rohan & Zanna, 1996). Exercising control over the children’s behavior may lead to different outcomes, an aspect that is moderated by the cultural norms and expectations (Trommsdorff & Kornadt, 2003). Parents who monitor their children closely might make their values more available, when they explain or justify the limits they impose. At the same time, it may also constrain adolescents’ freedom and reduce their motivation to pay attention to their parent’s values (Knafo & Schwartz, 2003). Love withdrawal (or rejection) is considered to have major negative consequences for the development of the child. The negative emotional responses associated with love withdrawal may reduce adolescents’ attention to their parents’ messages and also the availability of these messages since adolescents try to avoid their parents (Knafo & Schwartz, 2003). The study conducted by Knafo and Schwartz (2003) was presented in more details earlier in this chapter. They also found a positive relationship between love withdrawal and accuracy of perception in 88 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission the father-son dyad. It was interpreted that being rejected adolescents try to attend more to parental messages to learn what is expected from them. However, considering this constellation of conflicting relationship, it is unclear to what extent children would accept their parents’ values. Not all the studies on parent-child value transmission found strong support (if any) for the influence of parental behavior (Whitbeck & Gecas, 1988). Some of them indicated that the influence comes only from one parental side, such as father’s warmth (Brody, Moore, & Glei, 1994). The moderator effects of parent-child relationship were found only in some countries (Albert, 2007) Even though the empirical findings mentioned above are not consistent, in the current work the suggestions made by Grusec and Goodnow (1994) that a positive parent-child relationship increases both the accuracy and the acceptance of the parents’ values are taken into consideration. Thus, the following hypotheses are generated for the current study:
The similarity between parents’ and children’s values and self-construal will be stronger under conditions of higher acceptance (hypothesis 7a), higher intimacy (hypothesis 7b), and higher admiration (hypothesis 7c); and the similarity will be lower under conditions of higher rejection (hypothesis 7d), and higher conflict (hypothesis 7e). No hypothesis was formulated for parental control.
3.3.3 Parents’ values agreement as a moderator of the value transmission
One very important, but mostly neglected, factor for the success of the intergenerational transmission of values is the degree of agreement between mother and father on the examined goals or orientations (Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman, 1981). Value congruence between parents has been seen as a feature of family cohesion and organization, with beneficial consequences for children’s development (e.g., Huston & Rempel, 1989; Minuchin, 1985; Simons, McCluskey, & Mullett, 1985). When parents agree they can act as a unit and their value messages are more likely to be clear and coherent rather than confusing and contradictory (Cashmore & Goodnow, 1985; Smith, 1982). Mothers and fathers often do not have the same values. Kohn and Schoenbach (1980) found in a sample of 325 American families with children aged 13-25 years that the correlation between mothers’ and fathers’ value of self-direction versus conformity to external authority is r = 0.39. Cashmore and Goodnow (1985) found in a study conducted with mothers, fathers, and their 12 to 14 years old children (100 families) that the level of agreement between parents predicted Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 89 mother-child and father-child agreement on important qualities for children to develop (e.g., “is obedient”, “has a good imagination”) and occupational aspirations. Homogeneity in parents’ attitudes leads to more intense transmission of their values to the children (Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman, 1981; Okagaki & Bevis, 1999). Parents’ value agreement was also positively associated with children’s accuracy perceptions of parental values (Knafo & Schwartz, 2003). However, there is still little empirical evidence examining these influences. In the current study, it is expected that parental agreement on specific values enhance the extent of transmission (hypothesis 8).
3.3.4 Perception of the social change and the intergenerational value transmission
As mentioned in the first chapter (1.3.3), younger generations may have a more positive perception of the ongoing changes taking place in a post-communist society such as Romania than the older generations. For instance, the latter group may lack the social and personal resources to adapt to the new environment, thus evaluating the changes in the new society more negatively. Noack et al. (1997) found in a study conducted with families from former East Germany that parents reported stronger changes for worse than adolescents. Looking at the processes within the family, the (negative or/and positive) consequences of social change felt by the parents are in turn affecting the daily life of their children (Conger et al., 1994b). Furthermore, parents and children spend much time together thus giving the opportunity to communicate about the changes in the society and also increasing the chance that they develop similar views and perception about these changes. However, no studies examined how these similarities between parents’ and child’s perception of social changes may affect the broader process of values transmission during adolescence. It was one of the main goals of this work to test these aspects. The following hypothesis was formulated in the current study:
The extent of transmission of values from parents to children increases under conditions of similarity in the perception of social change (social life and uncertainty) within each of the four dyads (hypothesis 9). 90 Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission
3.3.5 Direct effects of parenting and parent-child relationship quality on adolescents’ values and self-orientation
The most obvious way parents may influence their children’s development is by how they parent (Smith, 1983). The focus in research on parents’ parenting styles and practices, however, is mostly on which style or practice is the most effective enabling their children to internalize or take over the standards of society, reflected in their parents’ values, as their own (e.g., Grusec, Goodnow, & Kuczynski, 2000). What is surprising in the literature of value socialization within the family is the lack of studies that examine the direct influence of the parents’ child-rearing behaviors and attitudes on the development of children’s personal values and beliefs. Strictly speaking, parents’ child-rearing practices exemplify their values in action, and presumably, children infer parental values not only from parents’ assertions, but also from their practices (Kohn, 1983). It is assumed here that parents influence the children’s values and self-construal not only by communicating these issues to them, but also by organizing their lives in ways that are conducive to their valuing one or the other (Friedlmeier, 2007, March). Similarly, it is assumed that parenting behaviors create a certain atmosphere that shape or determine children’s values later in life without a specific intention per se of parents to influence their children’s values (Darling & Steinberg, 1993). Only a few studies showed that parenting components like involvement (Flouri, 2004) and control (Kasser, Ryan, Zax, & Sameroff, 1995) have effects on children’s values. 18-year-old children with cold, controlling mothers were likely to endorse financial success values, whereas teens with warm, democratic mothers were more focused on self-acceptance, affiliation, and community feelings (Kasser, Ryan, Zax, & Sameroff, 1995). Mother’s involvement was negatively related to child’s materialism. Father’s involvement was unrelated (Flouri, 2004). Parental acceptance and rejection as well as control are seen as universal parenting dimension (Rohner et al., 1980; Rohner & Cournoyer, 1994). Perceived acceptance by parents may foster the importance of close relationship for the adolescent and lead to the acquisition of more collectivist values and interdependence. Perceived control may have similar effects because adolescents in more collectivist societies evaluate control more positively than adolescents in western cultures. In one longitudinal study Roest, Dubas and Gerris (2007, March) investigated to what extent children’s Christian work ethic, political traditionalism, and self-determination could be Chapter 3. Parent-Child Relations and Intergenerational Value Transmission 91 explained by parental conformity demands and autonomy granting. The findings revealed that paternal conformity demands influenced children’s Christian work ethic. Maternal conformity demands showed a significant positive influence on children’s political traditionalism when children transverse from young and mid adolescence to mid and late adolescence. Paternal and maternal autonomy granting had a negative influence on respectively children’s Christian work ethic and political traditionalism when they transverse from mid and late adolescence to late adolescence and emerging adulthood. Rohan and Zanna (1996) and also Knafo (2003) found that people who held right-wing authoritarian beliefs were significantly more likely to place emphasis on conformity, tradition, and security than those who did not hold these beliefs. Moreover, those people with strong right- wing authoritarian beliefs were less likely to emphasize values like self-direction and stimulation. In the current study it was examined if parents’ child-rearing behavior and parent-child relationship quality influence adolescents’ values and self-construal. Since only scarce empirical support for such influences exist in the literature, this study carefully investigate this issue.
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4 Summary of Research Questions and Hypotheses
The main purpose of this study was to examine the transmission of values and self-construal from fathers and mothers to their adolescent children. This was done with help of three different models as depicted in Figure 2: (1) direct transmission, (2) as a process of construction of general values and self-construal out of the specific relationship with the parents and their parenting behavior, and (3) through the moderating effects of relationship quality, parenting, parents’ actual agreement on values and self-construal, and the intergenerational similarity in the perception of the social changes.
Macrosystem Conditions
Mother‘s Values and Self-construal Parents‘ Actual Agreement
Mother Perception of Social Education Mother Changes Occupation Parenting Style Income Relation with Child Age Child‘s Values and Self-construal Father Father Education Occupation Parenting Style Income Relation with Child Perception of Social Age Changes
Parents‘ Actual Father‘s Values and Agreement Self-construal
Figure 2: The Model of Transmission from Parents to Children
94 Chapter 4: Summary of Research Questions and Hypotheses
The hypotheses of this work are summarized in the following:
Perception of the social change and its consequences (Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3) It is assumed that parents generation perceives stronger changes for worse than children generation (hypothesis 1). It is expected that female participants are more sensitive to changes for worse than male participants (hypothesis 2). For both younger and older generations, a negative relation between increased changes for worse on the one side and parent-child relationship quality, parenting, and life satisfaction on the other side is expected (hypothesis 3).
Generation gap It is expected that the older generation scores higher on collectivism than the younger generation, and the younger generation score higher on individualism as compared to the older generation (hypothesis 4). It is expected that the older generation shows a higher score on interdependent self- construal and a lower score on independent self-construal compared to the younger generation (hypothesis 5).
Transmission from parents to children A positive relation between collectivistic/individualistic values and self-construal of the parents and the respective values and self-construal of the children is expected (hypothesis 6). The similarity between parents’ and children’s values and self-construal will be stronger under conditions of higher acceptance (hypothesis 7a), higher intimacy (hypothesis 7b), and higher admiration (hypothesis 7c); and the similarity will be lower under conditions of higher rejection (hypothesis 7d), and higher conflict (hypothesis 7e). No hypothesis was formulated for parental control. It is expected that parents’ agreement on each specific value enhance the extent of transmission (hypothesis 8). The extent of transmission of values from parents to children increases under conditions of similarity in the perception of social change (social life and uncertainty) within each of the four Chapter 4: Summary of Research Questions and Hypotheses 95 dyads (hypothesis 9). The research questions concerning the direct effects of parenting and parent-child relationship quality on values and self-construal as well as the differential contributions of mothers and fathers were tested in an exploratory way. 96 97
5 Methods
This cross-sectional intergenerational study was conducted in order to investigate important issues in the domains of value transmission from parents to adolescents and of the personal meaning of the social change. This research applied some of the methods used in the international project “Value of Children and Intergenerational Relations” that is organized by Prof. Gisela Trommsdorff, University of Konstanz, and Prof. Bernhard Nauck, University of Chemnitz (Trommsdorff & Nauck, 2001). The study was conducted in Onesti, a middle size town in the Moldavia region (the Eastern Region in Romania). Unlike many other Moldavian cities, Onesti benefits from a developed industry, especially oil and rubber industry guaranteeing a relatively higher standard of living. At the national level, Moldavia is the strongest agrarian region in Romania and economically the least developed. Data collection lasted from April to September in 2002 and was conducted by the author of this work. First of all, the way the sample was recruited is offered in the following section. Next, a description of the sample will be given focusing also on some of its main demographics. The third section explains the concrete procedure of the investigation, followed by a report of the instruments employed in this work with their reliabilities. Finally, the data analysis part reports about indicators and statistical matters.
5.1 Sample
5.1.1 Recruitment
In the first step, the school principals of four schools (two secondary schools and two high schools) in Onesti were contacted. The selection of children was mainly based on age (14 to 17 years old – 5th -12th graders). During a first meeting, the school principals were informed about the nature, purposes, and importance of the study. All of them were very cooperative. The author then visited 7th- and 8th-grade secondary school students and first- and second- year high school students in the classrooms and explained to them that the study asks for their own and their parents’ opinions about the importance of some guiding principles and domains in their lives. Most of the visits were done during their counseling/psychology classes, in part it is 98 Chapter 5: Methods because those teachers were most interested in the study. In one secondary school and one high- school the psychology teachers personally advised me about which particular groups of students to go to at the first presentation of the study in order to increase the probability of a greater participation. Furthermore, the necessity of participation of both parents in the study was also made clear to the students, as well as the duration and the way of data collection (filling out the questionnaires for children and separate face-to-face interviews with parents). Finally, they were informed that at the end (after the interviews with both parents), they would receive an honorarium compensation for their participation. The children’s task was to inform the parents at home about the study and to ask for their consent to participate. One week after the first contact, the children reported back about their parents’ decision. This recruitment strategy was repeated in a number of classes in each of the selected school until the desired number of participants was reached. Lists with the name of the families, home address, and phone numbers were created in order to contact the families to set up the appointments for the interviews. One of the problems encountered in this study was the lower readiness and motivation of boys to participate: they were less interested even during the first presentation of the study and later were less willing to discuss with their parents about their participation in the study. Thus, in order to reach an equal participation of male and female adolescents, the intervention of the class teachers was needed in the end. They were encouraged to participate by other additional means, such as getting a better grade at the next test.
5.1.2 Description of the sample
The total sample consists of N = 300 participants from 100 Romanian families (see also Appendix Table 1 for socio-demographic characteristics of the sample). The sample includes two biologically related generations – adolescent children (boys and girls) and their mothers and fathers (i.e., 100 triads). The sample was kept at this size was because of practical considerations. It is simply extremely difficult to recruite three members of the same family at the same time. The adolescents came from intact families, with only 4 out of 200 parents married twice No divorced families were included in the sample. All children were living in the same household with their parents. Both genders were almost equally represented (52 girls and 48 boys). Chapter 5: Methods 99
Mean age of the family members were 42.8 (SD = 4.4) years for mothers (range 34-52 years old) and 45.7 (SD = 4.7) years for fathers (range 36-61 years old). A t-test for independent samples was computed to compare the ages in the two samples: a significant difference was found, with fathers significantly older than mothers t (198) = 4.56, p < .01. Adolescents were on average 15.5 years old (SD = 1.1, range 14-17 years old). These families had between one and four children (M = 1.85, SD = 0.61). The average number of children in the families included in the study was higher than the overall fertility rate in Romania (1.4 children per woman)2 which has dropped drastically in the years after the turmoil (see chapter 1.3.1). With regards to the employment rate, 100% of the fathers and 90% of the mothers were currently employed. 5% of mothers were unemployed and 5% were housewives. At the national level, the unemployment rate is 11.5% (in 1999). Unemployment rate is rather higher in other age groups than those included in this sample. In term of the professional status, 48% of the mothers and 52% of the fathers are blue-collar workers, 25% of the mothers and 30% of the fathers are white-collar workers, and 14% of the mothers and 16% of the fathers are self-employed. The majority of the participants have jobs in industry; the second representative domain is that of administration and education. Only two (mothers) out of 200 participants have part-time jobs. The distribution of the fathers’ education level was as follows: vocational or complementary school (30%), high school (51%), and university education (19%). Twenty-four percent of the mothers finished vocational or complementary school, 60% visited high school, and 16% had a university degree. For further analyses, parents’ educational level for each of the parent was coded as following: 1 = vocational school; 2 = high school; 3= university education. The monthly net income per capita ranged from 10 to 180 Euros with a mean income of 81 Euros per capita. All participants were asked to rate their economic status on a 5-point scale (from 1 = low to 5 = upper class). More than half of the parents and the children situated themselves on the middle level. Number of children they wish to have some day. Approximately all of the male and female adolescents (89.6% of the boys and 96.2% of the girls) reported that they want to have children some day. 62.5% of the boys and 67.3% of the girls want to have 2 children when they become adults. Neither parents nor children showed strong gender preferences; nevertheless, the children expressed the wish to have either girls or boys more often than their parents.
2 Source: U.S. Census Buro, International Data Base (2000) 100 Chapter 5: Methods
With respect to religious affiliation, the majority of the respondents (91%) was Romanian orthodox and rated religion as being important in their lives (equivalent to a 4 on a scale from 1 to 5, from “not important at all” to “very important”). This was the case for both parents and children. Their high ratings on the importance of religious belief reflect the nation trend, as reported in many other studies (e.g., Voicu, 2001). No other central European countries scored so high on this dimension (see European Values Survey, 1999). When asked about their general life satisfaction, both parents and children reported as being relatively satisfied. On a scale from 1 = not satisfied at all to 5 = very satisfied, 59% of parents and 59% of children answered with 4 (“satisfied”); 22% of the parents and 14% of the children reported as being very satisfied. The rest of the respondents answered with either 2 or 3, but none of them answered with 1 (“not satisfied at all”).
5.2 Instruments
Because the current study was conducted in reference to the “Value of Children and Intergenerational Relations” Project, most instruments here were taken from the project (Schwarz, Chakkarath, Trommsdorff, Schwenk, & Nauck, 2001). An important advantage of these instruments is that most of them were already applied in other cross-cultural studies, and have been shown good construct equivalence. Some of the instruments have been used in Romania as part of the diploma thesis of the author (Orheanu, 2001). Due to the different design of the present study as compared to the VOC Project, additional instruments were added (e.g., the measurement of the perception of social change). Most instruments were used for both samples, parents and adolescents, with only few exceptions. Standard procedures were employed in the translation of the questionnaires. More specifically, they were translated from English to Romanian by someone other than the investigator and an independent back-translation from Romanian to English was carried out by a second person. The investigator compared the two versions of translation and – if necessary – modifications were made after consulting with the translators. As mentioned above, some instruments have been already used in the diploma thesis of the author. This “pilot” study has provided feedbacks on the clarity and the comprehensibility of the items. Chapter 5: Methods 101
5.2.1 Individualist/collectivist values
The short version of Schwartz and Bilsky (1990) instrument developed by Chan (1994) as part of the COLINDEX was used. It consists of 7 items to measure individualist values and 6 items to measure collectivist values. Subjects are asked to judge each value on the extent to which they constitute a guiding principle in their lives. The original rating scale ranges from 0 (not important) to 7 (of supreme importance). Due to an adjustment made to different rating scales in the questionnaires included in the VOC–study, the research team changed the rating scale to a five-point scale, from not important at all (1) to very important (5) (Schwarz et al., 2001). For the current study this 5-point rating scale was adopted. Variables. Collectivist values include those items related to Security, Conformity, and Tradition [e.g., “honor of your parents and elders (showing respect)”]. Individualist values include those items related to Self-Direction, Stimulation, and Hedonism [e.g., “an exciting life (stimulating experiences)”]. Internal consistencies estimated for individualist values were .73 for adolescents and .74 for parents. The alphas on collectivism were .74 for adolescents and .65 for parents. Parents’ actual agreement on collectivist and individualist values. Absolute mean differences between values of mothers and values of fathers were performed and were used as a measure for the parents’ actual values agreement.3
5.2.2 Independent/interdependent self-construal
A short version of Singelis’s (1994) Self-Construal Scales was used. Based on a factor analysis of the original instrument, which contains 24 items (Singelis, 1994), 12 items measuring the interdependent self-construal and 12 the independent self-construal, the research team of the VOC-study chose a total of ten items with the highest factor loadings on the factors of interdependent self-construal and independent self-construal (see Schwarz et al., 2001). In the original instrument, the two scales refer unspecifically to “people around me”, “my group” etc about relationships. The VOC-research team decided to focus on the family, one reason being that people may differ in their self-construal depending on the group of people they refer to (e.g.,
3 Because it is not the focus of this work to test the overall agreement, the analyses were conducted separate for each value. 102 Chapter 5: Methods family, friends, and colleagues). Since the VOC-project deals with family relations matters, the modification was made to focus on the family, e.g. “It is important to me to respect decisions made by my family” for the interdependent self-construal, and “My personal identity, independent of my family, is very important to me” for the independent self-construal. Subjects were asked to indicate, on a scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5), how strongly they agree or disagree with the self-construal items. For the present study, the same Self- construal instrument used in the VOC-project was employed. Variables. One item from the independent self-construal scale (“I prefer to be direct and forthright when dealing with family members“) was dropped because of its low correlation with the scale. Even so, the internal consistency for independent self-construal was quite unsatisfactory for adolescents, namely .51. A better alpha was reached for parents (α = .73). The internal consistency of the interdependent self-construal scale was satisfactory: α = .77 for adolescents, and α = .71 for parents. Parents’ actual agreement on independent and interdependent self-construal. Absolute mean differences between values of mothers and values of fathers were performed and were used as a measure of agreement.
5.2.3 Quality of relationship with parents
The Relationship Quality was measured with the Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI) developed by Furman and Buhrmester (1985). Originally it was meant to assess a variety of aspects in the relationship of adolescents with parents, peers, relatives, teachers, etc. In a German study about divorced and stepfamilies, parts of the NRI were adapted for an interview with adult women (Schwarz, 2000). Following this study and in reference to the VOC-project the subscales intimacy, conflict, and perceived admiration were chosen for the present study. Each scale consists of three items and only the children sample received this questionnaire with separate questions for the quality of relationship to father and to mother. The answers had to be rated on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (“never”) to 5 (“always”). Variables. The scale for Intimacy (e.g., “How often do you tell your mother/father everything that is on your mind?”) reached good reliabilities of α = .86 for the relationship to mother and α = .74 for the relationship to father. The Conflict scale (e.g., “How often do you and your mother/father disagree and quarrel?”) had good internal consistencies as well, with α = .84 Chapter 5: Methods 103 for the relationship to mother, and α = .86 for the relationship to father. Finally, the scale for Admiration (e.g., “How often does your mother/father let you know that you are good at many things?”) reached satisfactory internal consistencies of α = .70 and α =.76 for relationship to mother and father, respectively.
5.2.4 Perception of social change
The instrument of Perception of Social Change was developed by Noack, Hofer, Kracke, Wild and Boehnke (1997) and assesses various aspects of the societal context. It was used to investigate differences between East and West Germans in the way they perceive the changes after the reunification. The original instrument consists of five scales. In the current study, the parents are asked to rate whether different aspects of life (uncertainty/anomie and social life) deteriorated, remained unchanged or improved in comparison to the time before the breakdown of the communism in 1989. Adolescents were asked to indicate change or stability concerning Uncertainty and Social Life in the course of the preceding 5 years on a five-point rating scale (1 = much less today; 3 = the same; 5 = much more today). This procedure was also used in other studies (e.g., Noack, 2000). Variables. In the present study the following three scales were utilized for both parents and children: Social Welfare, Social Life, and Uncertainty/Anomie. The scale of Social Welfare did not reach applicable internal consistency. Thus, it was not used as a scale for further analyses; however, separate items were analyzed for descriptive purposes. One item of the Uncertainty scale was excluded because it is not applicable for Romania’s population (“There is a considerable share of foreigners in the population”). The internal consistencies of the scales were moderate; for the Social Life scale (3 items, e.g., “In our country, people care for children”) α = .62 for adolescents and α = .74 for parents. The Uncertainty scale (4 items) reached even lower alpha values, α = .40 for children and α = .64 for parents. Despite of these less than desirable reliabilities, the work hypotheses were nevertheless tested on the basis of the two scales. High scores for Uncertainty indicate higher level of perceived negative change whereas high scores for Social Life indicate higher level of perceived positive change. Intergenerational similarity in the perception of social change. Absolute mean differences between the values of mothers/fathers and the values of daughters/sons for Uncertainty and Social Life were performed and were used as a measure of similarity. 104 Chapter 5: Methods
5.2.5 Parenting Style
Parenting Style was assessed with the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ) (Rohner et al., 1980) as well as the Control-Supplement. This instrument has often been used in cross-cultural studies (e.g. Rohner & Cournoyer, 1994; Rohner et al., 1980). The original PARQ consists of 60 items and is a self-report questionnaire for children or adults. It is divided into four scales, one measuring the concept of warmth and affection, the other three measuring aggression and hostility, indifference and neglect, and undifferentiated rejection. For this study a short version developed by Sherman and Donovan (1991) was used. It consists of 24 items divided into three scales: 10 items for acceptance, 8 items for rejection, and 6 items for control. Children answered all the three scales whereas to parents only items for acceptance and control subscales were administered. Items were rated on a four-point Likert-type scale ranging from “almost never true” (1) to “almost always true” (4). Items were administered separately for mothers’ and fathers’ behavior. One item was dropped from the acceptance scale for both adolescents and parents because of its low item-scale correlation (“My parent is interested in the things I do/ I am interested in the things my child does”). Variables. Generally, high internal consistencies were reached for both parents and children samples. In the adolescents sample, the acceptance scale reached an α = .85 for acceptance from mother, and α = .91 for acceptance from father. For the control scale, alphas were .74 for control by mother, and .64 for control by father. The rejection scale was applied only for adolescents and reached α = .72 for rejection by mother and α = .83 for rejection by father. In the parents sample, α = .87 for acceptance, and α = .50 for control. For the present study mostly children’s answers were taken into account.
5.2.6 Life satisfaction
Life satisfaction is the cognitive component of subjective well-being. To assess general life satisfaction, one item from the well-approved Satisfaction with Life Scale was used (e.g., Diener, Gohm, Suh, & Oishi, 2000). In addition, four items from a German instrument were administered to assess specific aspects of the participants’ life (Henrich & Herschbach, 1995). Diener, Gohm, Suh, and Oishi (2000) used a 10-point scale ranging from 1 (dissatisfied) to 10 (satisfied). Here a five-point rating scale was adopted as in the VOC-project. The Chemnitz research group added Chapter 5: Methods 105 one item measuring the satisfaction with husband/wife (Schwarz et al., 2001). Instead of satisfaction with “work,” adolescents were asked about their satisfaction with “school”. The husband/wife item was dropped from the adolescents’ questionnaire. Variables. Based on factor analyses (see 6.1.2) different scales were suggested for mothers, fathers and adolescents. For mothers and fathers, two scales were formed, whereas for adolescents one scale was suggested as optimal after factor analyses. The two scales contain partly different items for mothers and for fathers. Thus, the first scale of mothers consists of three items – life satisfaction with family, husband and friends – and reached an alpha of .77. In case of fathers, this scale consists of two items – life satisfaction with family and wife – with a high inter-items correlation of r(48) = .78, p < .001. The second scale with two items for mothers and three for fathers – life satisfaction with work and health for mothers and additionally with friends for fathers – revealed a moderate consistency for mothers, r(48) = .35, p< .05 and α = .65 for fathers. For adolescents, one single scale reached an α = .55.
5.2.7 Socio-demographic variables used for further analyses
The following variables were used for analyses, either included in the work hypotheses or as control variables (e.g., educational level of the parents, perceived economic status). Family income. The financial situation of the family was captured by the monthly per capita net income, a measure recommended by many studies (Conger et al., 1994a). The mean between mothers’ and fathers’ reports was computed and used here as indicator for income. Parents’ educational level. The levels of education were coded as following: 1 = vocational school; 2 = high school; 3= university education. Economic status of the family. On the basis of one item, the response ranged from 1 = low economic status to 5 = upper economic status. The values reported by mother, father, and child were averaged and used as single indicator for the family’ s economic status. Number of children/siblings. This information was provided by parents and was used as a control variable. Importance of religion. Both parents and children were asked with the help of a Likert-type item ranging from 1 (not important at all) to 5 (very important) about the importance they give to their religion. 106 Chapter 5: Methods
5.3 Procedure
Adolescents completed the questionnaires in class. Parents were interviewed in their homes after an appointment was scheduled over the phone. Interviews with mothers and fathers were conducted separately. Only in four cases the parents were interviewed together due to time constraints.
5.3.1 Questioning of adolescents
Adolescents were asked to fill out the questionnaires in their classrooms, usually during a sport or psychology class. Those who did not agree to participate were not present and were free to do what they wanted. The teachers were also asked to leave the classroom during the testing. Altogether the adolescents needed between 40 and 60 minutes to complete the questionnaires, which consisted of standardized items with structured answering type and one single open-end question. Topics of the questionnaires were, among others, personal value orientations, expectations from children, perceived relationship quality to parents.
5.3.2 Interviewing the parents
Parents were interviewed in their homes after an appointment was made over the phone. The interviews were conducted separately for mothers and fathers, one after another, with a short break between them. The time required for the interview averaged 70 minutes, ranging from 40 to 95 minutes. In general, it took longer for the mothers to complete the interviews. As mentioned above, the interviews were conducted in the participants’ home with the exception of one mother who was interviewed at the workplace. It was attempted and fortunately attained to interview both parents at one visit in order to prevent discussion between them that could influence their answers given during the interview. The topics of the interview were very similar to those from the children’ questionnaires, with some additional items regarding concrete expectations for an adult son and daughter, respectively. Generally, the parents, especially mothers, showed much interest in participating in the study. They often found the questions insightful. Mothers also liked to talk about their different kinds of problems (e.g., worries about their children, the changes after 1989). It happened several Chapter 5: Methods 107 times that the next appointments with other families had to be canceled due to the parents’ long stories as well as their hospitality (e.g., invitations to stay over for lunch or dinner after the interview). Fathers behaved more distant and gave quick answers to the questions without many additional comments on the topics of discussion.
5.3.3 The course of the interview
In the beginning of the interview a short introduction of the research was offered. The sequence and the length of the interview were explained to them. They could decide who wants to be interviewed first. During this time the other parent was asked to leave the room. The procedure of each interview was as following: the interviewer (the author) asked the (standardized) questions and the respondents had to answer with the help of the scales they received for each set of questions. In case if they did not understand a question, the author repeated the question trying not to influence the answer in a way or another. After the interviews with both parents were completed, they received 10 Euro as compensation. Usually they passed this money on to their children. 35 out of the 100 families did not want to take the money explaining that it was interesting and helpful for them to participate. Some of the difficulties encountered with the interviews were results of the chaotic organization of the streets plan, and the partially nonexistent house number.
5.4 Data analysis
Parenting style and quality of parent-child relationship was partly assessed from all participants (parents and adolescents). The parental view often does not coincide with the children’s perspective. Here, it was decided to focus on adolescents’ evaluations when testing the value transmission, as this perspective is more appropriate when examining the effects of parenting on adolescents’ development (e.g., Kagan, 1978). Regression analyses were mainly employed in order to examine the predictive relationship between the parents’ variables and the children’s variables. The main emphasis in these analyses is to show to what extent values were transmitted from mothers and fathers to their children using as predictors parents’ variables (values) alone and in combination (interaction) with moderator variables, such as parenting style and parents’ values agreement. 108 Chapter 5: Methods
According to Baron and Kenny (1986), in order to analyze the moderator effect, the interaction term between the values of mother/father and the moderator variable (e.g., acceptance) was introduced in the regression analyses to predict the values of the adolescents. The moderators were each centered around their mean before the interaction variable was computed (Aiken & West, 1991). The moderator variables were included in the equations as continuous variables (see Cohen, 1983). In case of a significant interaction effect, the guideline given by Cohen and Cohen (1983) was followed, namely to use three values of the moderator variable, corresponding to the centered mean of the moderator, one standard deviation above the mean, and one standard deviation below the mean. These values are substituted in the regression equations to generate a series of simple regression equations of the dependent variable on the predictor variable at specific values of the moderator. These equations are plotted to display the interaction. 109
6 Results
The results are presented in the order of the hypotheses presented in Chapter 4. First, preliminary analyses are introduced (6.1), followed by results concerning the social change (6.2.). Next, analyses to generation gap are presented (6.3), and the last and the largest part introduces the results of the transmission of values and self-construal from parents to children (6.4).
6.1 Preliminary Analyses
6.1.1 Socio-demographic variables and values/self-construal
Before testing the hypotheses, the relations between the socio-demographic variables and the values/self-construal of parents and children were examined. The analyses were conducted separate for mothers, fathers, and children. The following socio-demographic indicators were considered for the current work: number of children (or siblings), age of participants, and perceived economic status of the family. Mean differences were tested for educational level by computing one-way ANOVAs.
6.1.1.1 Socio-demographic variables of mothers and their values/self-construal
The self-construal did not show any relations with the mothers’ demographic characteristics. In contrast, individualist and collectivist values yielded some significant results. The lower the number of children the more individualistic the mothers tended to be, r(98) = -.18, p < .10 (see Appendix Table 2). The older the mothers were (age), the less important they evaluated the individualist values, r(98) = -.27, p < .01 (see Appendix Table 2). Perceived family economic status was not related with mothers’ values (see Appendix Table 2). The factor educational level yielded a significant effect for individualism, F(2, 97) = 3.26, p < .05, and collectivism, F(2, 97) = 3.94, p < .05 (see Appendix Table 3). Mothers who graduated from high school hold stronger individualist values (M = 3.79, SD = .63) than those who attended complementary schools (M = 3.42, SD = .73). Mothers with university degree (M = 3.70, SD = .51) did not differ from the two other groups. However, mothers with high school degree (M = 4.51, SD = .36) scored significantly higher on collectivist values as compared to 110 Chapter 6. Results mothers who attended the university (M = 4.19, SD = .53), (see Appendix Table 3).
6.1.1.2 Socio-demographic variables of fathers and their values/self-construal
Each of the values related to self-construal yielded significant relations with at least one demographic characteristic of the fathers. The higher the number of children, the stronger were the fathers’ collectivist values, r(98) = .22, p < .05, and the lower the fathers’ independent self- construal, r(98) = -.18, p < .10 (see Appendix, Table 4). Fathers from higher status families (perceived family economic status) reported higher individualism, r(98) = .23, p < .05, but also a tendency to higher collectivism, r(98) = .18, p < .10. The factor educational level yielded a significant effect for the interdependent self- construal, F(2, 97) = 3.16, p < .05 (see Appendix Table 5). Fathers who attended complementary schools had a stronger interdependent self-construal (M = 4.71, SD = 32) than the fathers with university degrees (M = 4.42, SD = .58). No other differences with respect to values were found.
6.1.1.3 Socio-demographic variables and children’s values/self-construal
Individualism and independent self-construal did not show any relations with children’s demographic characteristics. In contrast, collectivism and interdependent self-construal yielded some significant results. The higher the number of siblings, the more collectivist the children tended to be, r(98) = .17, p < .10. The older the children were (age), the less collectivist values they hold, r(98) = -.19, p < .05 (see Appendix Table 6). The higher the perceived family economic status was, the higher the children’s interdependent self-construal, r(98) = .21, p < .05 (see Appendix, Table 5). Mother’s educational level revealed no impact on children’s importance of values and self- construal (see Appendix Table 7). In contrast, the factor father’s education degree yielded a significant effect, F(2, 97) = 2.43, p < .10 (see Appendix Table 8). Children whose fathers had university degrees had a stronger individualistic orientation (M = 4.35, SD = .45) than those whose fathers had attended only high school (M = 4.00, SD = .59). The effect of fathers’ educational level on children’s independent self-construal of children was marginally significant, but not the single comparisons (see Appendix Table 8).
Chapter 6: Results 111
6.1.2 Factor analyses for life satisfaction
For assessing life satisfaction, items related to diverse life domains were administered to both generations (see chapter 5). Both parents received five items corresponding to five domains, whereas adolescents received four items (for four domains). The purpose here was to test the relation between the perception of social changes and the life satisfaction, separate for mother, father, and child. Therefore, separate factor analyses on the life satisfaction measure were computed for the three samples and no forced common factor-analytic solution was required in order to test hypothesis 3. In the following, results of these three factor analyses are reported.
6.1.2.1 Life satisfaction-factors structure for mothers
A principal component analysis with Varimax-rotation has been carried out on the 5 items from the mothers’ questionnaire. This analysis suggested a clear two-factor solution that explained 69.45% of the variance (see Table 1). This solution was satisfactory based on different criteria: eigenvalues, screeplot, and item content. The first factor grouped three items together and represented the satisfaction with friends, husband and family (see Table 1) and the internal consistency was α =.77. The second factor consists of 2 items representing the satisfaction with health and work. The two items were positively correlated, r(98) = .35, p < .01.
Table 1 Means, Standard Deviations and Exploratory Factor Analysis of Life Satisfaction for all Samples
Life Satisfaction Items Adolescents Mothers Fathers M (SD) F M (SD) F1 F2 M (SD) F1 F2
How satisfied are you … 1 … with friends 3.98 ( .84) .67 3.66 (.88) .61 .39 3.88 (.78) .34 .63 2 … with health 3.76 ( .94) .68 3.05 (.98) .09 .84 3.79 (.92) .10 .85 3 … with school/work4 3.48 (1.01) .68 3.32 (1.77) .06 .75 3.79 (1.18) -.05 .80 4 … with family 4.09 (1.06) .59 4.33 (.84) .92 .08 4.49 (.69) .92 .16 5 … with wife/husband - - 4.25 (1.09) .91 -.02 4.47 (.81) .94 .04
Notes. Main component analysis with varimax rotation. Factor loadings in bold print mark items that were included in the scales.
4 Adolescents were asked about satisfaction with school, whereas parents about satisfaction with work. 112 Chapter 6. Results
6.1.2.2 Life satisfaction-factors structure for fathers
A principal component analysis was also conducted on the 5 items from the fathers’ questionnaire. Similar to the analysis for mothers, a clear two-factor solution was revealed explaining 72.60% of the variance. However, the structure differed. As compared to mothers, only two items loaded on the first factor, namely the satisfaction with wife and family (see Table 1). The two items were highly correlated, r(98) = .78, p < .001). The second factor grouped the other three items: satisfaction with friends, work, and health (see Table 1). This factor reached a modest alpha (α = .65).
6.1.2.3 Life satisfaction-factors structure for adolescents
For the adolescent sample, the principal component analysis with varimax rotation revealed a one-factor solution as optimal according to the criteria of eigenvalues. The factor explains 42.8% of the variance (see Table 1). The alpha for this 4-items factor was α = .55.
6.2 Perception of Social Change
6.2.1 Intergenerational and gender differences
Hypothesis 1 predicts intergenerational mean differences with respect to both scales for Social Change, namely “Uncertainty” and “Social Life”: it is assumed that parents perceive stronger changes for worse than children, i.e., higher scores for Uncertainty and lower scores for Social Life. Furthermore, it is also expected that female participants (mothers and daughters) are more sensitive to changes for worse than male participants (hypothesis 2). A very strong generation effect was found for Uncertainty in the expected direction (see Table 2): parents’ generation perceived stronger Uncertainty in the society than the children generation. Similar results were found for the Social Life scale. Here too, a generation effect occurred with parents showing lower scores than children (see Table 2). This means that parents evaluated the change of quality of Social Life as more negative compared to the children generation. Thus, hypothesis 1 was confirmed. The hypothesis of female participants being more sensitive to changes (hypothesis 2) was only partly confirmed: mothers and daughters showed higher scores for the Uncertainty scale Chapter 6: Results 113 than fathers and sons (see Table 2). In contrast, no gender effect was found for Social Life: mothers and daughters did not perceive more changes for worse with respect to Social Life when comparing with fathers and sons. Additionally, it is interesting to note that at the mean levels, both parents and children perceived more changes in the domain of Uncertainty as compared to Social Life (see Table 2). The value “3” represents the label “the same”, i.e., people relate to each other in the same way as before the revolution in 1989 (time period for parents’ comparisons) or 5 years (time period for adolescents’ comparisons). The values reported for Social Life were much closer to “3” than those for Uncertainty.
Table 2 Intergenerational Comparison of Perceived Social Changes
Parents Adolescents F-value R2 (%) F-value for Father Mother Son Daughter (df = 3, single effects 296) (n = 100) (n = 100) (n = 48) (n = 52) A: Generation M M M M B: Gender (SD) (SD) (SD) (SD) C: Interaction
Uncertainty 4.41 4.66 3.70 3.98 46.39*** 32.00 A: 121.66*** (0.58) (0.35) (0.68) (0.46) B: 17.80*** C: 0.06 Social Life 2.55 2.53 2.91 2.72 2.97* 3.00 A: 7.68** (0.79) (0.80) (0.85) (0.78) B: 1.20 C: 0.68
*p < .05. *** p < .001. Notes: Answers were rated on a 5-point scale, from 1 (much less today) to 5 (much more today).
There was a negative correlation between the two scales, i.e. the more negative a person evaluated the change of quality of Social Life, the higher he/she evaluated the increase of Uncertainty in the society. This negative relation was found for all three generations: fathers: r(98) = -.28, p < .01; mothers: r(98) = -.25, p < .01; adolescents: r(98) = -.20, p < .05. Beside the quantitative comparison at the scale level, a closer look at the answers to single items may also give interesting insights for two reasons. First, the single items cover different qualities, and second, the items that aim to measure Social Welfare can also be taken into account for such item-based analysis. This scale was not included due to the low internal consistency (see 114 Chapter 6. Results
5.2.4). The highest mean scores across all four groups in terms of strong changes toward worse were found in the items from the Uncertainty scale (see Table 3). For example, the inequality in the society with regard to money and properties (item 4) received the highest score (except for the girls’ group). Looking at the Social Welfare scale, slight improvement was perceived with regard to opportunities offered to adolescents across all groups (item 6). In contrast to this, changes toward worse refer to the protection for old people (item 5) and the families (item 7), especially by parents (see Table 3). Combined patterns of change toward worse and stability were revealed in the Social Life scale. Whereas the care for children is seen as stable (item 9), the social relations between adults were evaluated as getting worse (items 8 and 10).
Table 3 Means and Standard Deviations for Social Change
Parents Adolescents Mothers Fathers Girls Boys M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)
Uncertainty Scale 4.66 (0.35) 4.41 (0.58) 3.98 (0.46) 3.70 (0.68) 1. Everything is so uncertain that anything could 4.47 (0.70) 4.13 (1.01) 3.73 (0.95) 3.40 (1.22) happen. 2. Crime and violence are widespread in everyday 4.71 (0.52) 4.53 (0.63) 4.21 (0.80) 3.85 (1.15) life. 3. Things change so fast that is difficult to find an 4.54 (0.58) 4.18 (0.91) 4.04 (0.74) 3.58 (0.85) orientation. 4. The amount of income and property varies a lot 4.90 (0.33) 4.78 (0.64) 3.92 (1.04) 3.96 (0.97) between people in RO. Social Welfare Scale 2.47 (1.09) 2.55 (1.07) 3.16 (1.27) 3.25 (1.26) 5. Financial and social security of old people is high. 1.86 (1.11) 2.08 (1.11) 2.42 (1.18) 2.66 (1.22) 6. Adolescents are offered decent leisure-time 3.73 (1.20) 3.59 (1.13) 3.53 (1.39) 3.79 (1.18) activities. 7. The financial situation of families is well taken care 1.83 (0.97) 1.97 (0.98) 3.54 (1.24) 3.31 (1.39) of in our country. Social Life Scale 2.53 (0.80) 2.55 (0.79) 2.72 (0.78) 2.91 (0.85) 8. People help each other. 2.31 (0.95) 2.42 (1.00) 2.45 (0.90) 2.87 (1.19) 9. In our country, people care for children. 3.03 (1.05) 2.92 (1.00) 3.15 (1.00) 3.00 (1.15) 10. Many people get active in the interest of others. 2.22 (0.93) 2.32 (0.91) 2.52 (0.94) 2.88 (1.18) Chapter 6: Results 115
6.2.2 Intergenerational similarities within the family
Beside the two hypotheses tested above, it was a research question of this work whether the perceived social changes show intergenerational similarities within the families. In the families with boys as targets5, Uncertainty of father was marginally positively related to Uncertainty of mother, r(46) = .35, p < .10: the stronger the perceived changes for worse for fathers, the stronger were for mothers, too (see Table 4). Fathers’ Uncertainty was highly correlated with Uncertainty of sons, r(46) = .41, p < .01. No relation was found between mothers’ and sons’ Uncertainty (see Table 4). Furthermore, no correlations were found for perceived Social Life, neither in the mother-son dyad and father-son dyad, nor between mother and father (see Table 4).
Table 4 Intercorrelations for Perceived Social Changes
Variables Uncertainty Uncertainty Uncertainty Fathers Mothers Adolescents
Uncertainty Fathers - .25+ .41** Uncertainty Mothers -.12 - .13 Uncertainty Adolescents .08 .23+ -
Social Life Social Life Social Life
Fathers Mothers Adolescents
Social Life Fathers - .19 .04 Social Life Mothers .23+ - .00 Social Life Adolescents -.24+ -.06 -
+p < .10, **p < .01. Notes: The intercorrelations for sons are presented in the right part of the table above the diagonal and for daughters below the diagonal.
In the families with girls as targets6 the results revealed different correlations. Here, Uncertainty of mother marginally correlated with Uncertainty of daughter, r(50) = .23, p < .10, but not with that of fathers (see Table 4). Fathers’ Uncertainty was not correlated with mothers’ Uncertainty. Further, a marginally significant negative correlation between the fathers’ perception of Social
5 It is not excluded that younger or older female siblings exist in these families. 6 It is not excluded that younger or older male siblings exist in these families. 116 Chapter 6. Results
Life and the perception of daughters was found, r(50) = -.24, p < .10. This means that the stronger the changes for worse reported by fathers in this domain, the stronger the changes for better perceived by their daughters. A positive correlation between mothers’ and fathers’ perception of Social Life was found (see Table 4). Mothers’ perception was not related to daughters’ perception of Social Life.
6.2.3 Consequences of the Social Change
Hypothesis 3 predicted a negative relation between increasing changes for worse (higher scores for Uncertainty and lower scores for Social Life) on the one side and parent-child relationship quality (lower intimacy, lower admiration, higher conflict), parenting (lower acceptance, higher control, higher rejection), and life satisfaction on the other side as reported by both parents and children. The analyses were conducted at three different levels: (1) only mothers/fathers reports for social Change, parenting (acceptance and control), and life satisfaction are taken into account; (2) a combination of parents’ reports for social change and children’s reports for relationship quality to mother/father (admiration, intimacy and conflict), and maternal and paternal parenting (acceptance, control, and rejection); (3) only children’s reports for social change, parenting, relationship quality and life satisfaction. Since numerous analyses were conducted and only few of them were significant, the results are only reported in the text, but not presented in tables. As reported below, the hypothesis was only partially supported.
Patterns of relations in the families with boys as targets Contrary to the expectations, not many significant correlations between the two scales for Social Change and the indicators for parent-child relationship were found. First, results based on parents’ reports are presented. Surprisingly, mothers who reported higher scores for Uncertainty also reported higher scores for acceptance, r(48) = .34, p < .05. No significant correlations were found between mothers’ reports for uncertainty and control, neither between social life and parenting. Further, the higher the scores for Social Life as reported by mothers, the higher was their satisfaction with work and health as reflected in the positive correlation between the two variables, r(48) = .36, p < .05. In line with the hypothesis, a positive relation between fathers’ uncertainty scores and Chapter 6: Results 117 control used in parenting their sons was found: r(48) = .34, p < .05. Also, fathers who reported higher scores for Social Life (changes for better) also reported higher scores for acceptance of their sons, r(48) = .34, p < .05. No relations between fathers’ reports for uncertainty and acceptance, nor between social life and control or between social life and life satisfaction were found. On a second level, when taking the sons’ perspective on the relationship quality and parenting into account and the Social Change as reported by parents, very few significant relations were found. Mothers’ Social Life correlated negatively with perceived control by mother as reported by boys, r(48) = -.25, p < .10. This means that the more changes for better in the domain of Social Life mothers perceived, the less controlling were they as perceived by their sons. Also, a marginally negative correlation between fathers’ Uncertainty and perceived admiration from fathers as sons viewed it was found, r(48) = -24., p < .10. No other correlations were found. Finally, on a third level, boys’ perspective for both Social Change and parent-child relationship were considered. Those boys who reported higher scores for Uncertainty also reported lower scores for intimacy with their fathers (r(48) = -.38, p < .05). In the same line, Social Life positively correlated with intimacy with fathers (r(48) = .33, p < .05), with admiration from fathers (r(48) = .26, p < .10), and with acceptance from fathers (r(48) = .25, p < .10) and from mothers ((r(48) = .25, p < .10). No correlation was found between boys’ perception of the Social Change and life satisfaction.
Patterns of relations in the families with girls as targets Independent of the level considered, also here not many significant correlations were found. When taking the parents’ perspective on both Social Change and parenting, no correlation was found for mothers. For fathers, a marginally negative correlation between fathers’ perception of Social Life and control used in their relationship with their daughters was revealed, r(52) = -.26, p < .10. This means that those fathers who viewed positive changes for the Social Life also behaved less controlling toward their daughters. With regard to life satisfaction for fathers, a positive correlation between fathers’ Social Life and satisfaction with friends, work and health was found, r(52) = .40, p < .01. No correlation was found for mothers. 118 Chapter 6. Results
On the second level, no correlations between mothers’ reports for Social Change and girls’ view on the parenting of mother/father and mother/father-daughter relationship was found. On the last level, when considering only the data provided by girls, it was found that those girls who reported positive changes for Social Life, also reported lower conflicts with their mother (r(52) = -.34, p < .05), greater intimacy with the mother (r(52) = .23, p < .10), and greater acceptance from both mother, r(52) = .32, p < .05 and the father, r(52) = .23, p < .10. Interestingly, a marginally significant correlation between girls’ Uncertainty and intimacy with father was revealed, r(52) = .23, p < .10, which means that girls who viewed stronger uncertainties in the society, had a closer relationship with their fathers. Related to the results for life satisfaction, girls’ social life positively correlated with life satisfaction, r(52) = .39, p < .01.
6.2.4 Summary of results about perception of social change
The analysis of intergenerational differences in the perception of Social Change confirmed hypothesis 1: parents perceived stronger changes for worse in the society than children. Both dimensions of social change were related with each other in all four groups. Nevertheless, the analysis of the means and single items showed that uncertainty was evaluated much more badly than the change of Social Life which was even evaluated as rather stable. The item-based analysis allowed analyzing the items of Social Welfare scale, which did not reach reliability. All four groups agreed that opportunities offered to adolescents improved but the protection of families and old people got worse, which was parents perceived more strongly by parents. The research question of intergenerational similarities within families showed a gender- specific pattern for uncertainty: Fathers’ and sons’ uncertainty was significantly related and so was mothers’ and daughters’ uncertainty. Interestingly, an inverse pattern was found for father- daughter dyads: the stronger fathers perceived the changes for worse, the stronger daughters perceived changes for better. Hypothesis 2, assuming that females (mothers and daughters) perceive stronger changes for worse than males (fathers and sons), was only confirmed for the domain of Uncertainty but not of Social Life. In a similar way, hypothesis 3 was only partially confirmed. Most significant correlations found between the social change and different indicators of parent-child relationship were in the expected direction, and focused mainly children’s reports. Also, social change seemed to affect different domains of life satisfaction for mothers, fathers, and girls, but not boys. Chapter 6: Results 119
6.3 Values and Self-Construal
6.3.1 Intraindividual relations between the values and the self-construal
Individualism and collectivism as well as independent and interdependent self-construal were measured as independent dimensions by following the theoretical argumentations (see 2.2.6 and 2.3.2). Before analyzing the generation gap regarding the values and the self-construal, the internal structure of each of these constructs as well as the relative independence between the two constructs was tested.
Value Patterns within the Adolescents’ Sample
Independence of dimensions. For the full sample of adolescents, only a marginally significant positive correlation between individualism and collectivism occurred (see Table 5). The gender- specific analyses yielded no significant correlations, neither for boys nor for girls. No significant correlation between independent and interdependent self-construal was found. These results point to the coexistence of the two dimensions within both constructs at the individual level. Relations between values and self-construal. A high positive correlation between individualism and independence was found, r(98) = .41, p < .001: the higher the importance of individualistic values of adolescents, the higher was their independent self-construal. However, this positive correlation is only valid for boys, not for girls (see Table 5). The difference between the two coefficients was significant, z = 2.432, p = .015. It was also found that collectivism highly correlated with the interdependent self-construal, r(98) = .58, p < .001: higher collectivism of adolescents goes together with higher interdependence. This relation was found for both genders (see Table 5). 120 Chapter 6. Results
Table 5 Intercorrelations for Adolescents’ Values and Self-Construals
Adolescents (n = 100) Boys (n = 48) Variables 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
1 Individualism -- -- .14 .60** -.01 2 Collectivism .16+ - .17 - .24+ .56** 3 Independence .41** .08 - .18 -.14 -.08 4 Interdependence -.06 .58** -.14 - -.13 .61** -.21 -
Girls (n = 52)
+p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01. Notes. Intercorrelations for the whole sample of adolescents are presented in the first part of the table. The intercorrelations for boys are presented in the right part of the table above the diagonal and for girls below the diagonal.
Value Patterns within Parents’ Sample
Independence of dimensions. In contrast to their children, collectivism significantly correlated with individualism for both parents: the higher the individualism, the higher was the collectivism (see Table 6). Also, different from the adolescents’ results, a significant negative correlation between the independent self-construal and the interdependent self-construal was found for the total sample of parents (see Table 6). However, this result is primarily based on the negative correlation for mothers, r(98) = -.22, p < .05) not for fathers, r(98) = -.06, ns. (see Table 6). The difference between these two coefficients was not significant, z = 1.14, p = .26.
Table 6 Intercorrelations for Parents’ Individualism/Collectivism and Self-Construals
Parents (n = 200) Fathers (n = 100) Variables 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
1 Individualism - - .38** .12 .14 2 Collectivism .31** - .25* - -.06 .29** 3 Independence .14 .01 - .13 .08 - -.06 4 Interdependence -.02 .27** -.14* - -.19+ .25* -.22* -
Mothers (n = 100)
+p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. Notes: Intercorrelations for the whole sample of parents are presented in the first part of the table. The intercorrelations for fathers are presented in the right part of the table above the diagonal and for mothers below the diagonal. Chapter 6: Results 121
Relations between values and self-construal. As theoretically predicted and similar to the adolescents’ results, collectivism and interdependent self-construal correlated positively, also within each parent (see Table 6): those parents who are high on collectivism, are also high on interdependent self-construal. Different from the adolescents’ results (especially sons), no significant correlation between individualism and independent self-construal was found.
Summary
The test of independence of the self-construal confirmed the coexistence of the two dimensions, independent and interdependent self-construal. The only significant correlation between the independent and interdependent self-construal occurred for the mothers. But the shared variance of less than 5% rather confirms the coexistence assumption. It was also found that in the adolescents sample, collectivism and individualism were two independent factors. A positive correlation occurred for parents. This unexpected relation will be discussed later. A significant moderate relation between individualism and independent self-construal as well as between collectivism and interdependent self-construal was found for adolescents. For parents only the latter relation could be shown. All these results lead to the conclusion that it is meaningful to analyse each dimension within each construct as well as using both constructs (values and self-construal) concurrently as they may only overlap partly and assess different psychological meaning.
6.3.2 Intergenerational gap
The generational gap is analyzed from two different perspectives: (a) Generational gap related to cohorts. Here, it is assumed that developmental age and related experience throughout the life span affect the individual’s values and belief system. In line with Inglehart (1990, 1997), it is assumed that the older differ from the younger cohorts by preferring less individualistic and more conservative values, and at the same time emphasizing a stronger interdependent self-construal and a lower independent self-construal (see hypotheses 4 and 5 – “generation gap”). The analyses refer to the generations at the society level and ANOVAS for independent samples were conducted. (b) Generational gap within the families. Testing the differences within the family allows testing the hypothesis of social change in terms of changes in the value system as an inevitable 122 Chapter 6. Results process many societies are confronted with on their way to modernization, especially those found in profound and abrupt transformation as it is the case in Romania. In contrast to the first analysis, MANOVAs (using parents and children as within subject factors) were applied in order to test differences within the family. The same predictions were made for the family related generations as for the cohorts analysis mentioned above.
Generational gap related to cohorts
In order to test the hypotheses, 2 (generation) x 2 (gender) ANOVAS were computed to test differences in individualism/ collectivism and in the self-construal. As expected, significant generation effects were found for all four values (see Table 7). No gender effects were found. Parents scored significantly higher on collectivism and interdependent self-construal as compared to adolescents (see Figures 3 and 4). Also, individualistic values were more important for the adolescents than for the parents’ generation (see Figure 3). For individualistic values, an interaction effect was also found significant: fathers’ values were lower than their daughter’s values, but did not differ from their sons’ values (see Table 7). Adolescents scored higher on the independent self-construal as compared to the parents (see Table 7 and Figure 4).
5 ** *** ** 4
3
2
1
Individualism Collectivism
Father Mother Son Daughter Figure 3: Intergenerational Differences on Individualism/Collectivism
Chapter 6: Results 123
*** 5 *** 4 *
3
2
1 Independence Interdependence Father Mother Son Daughter Figure 4: Intergenerational Differences on Self-Construal
Table 7 Cohort Comparisons of Values and Self-Construal
Parents Adolescents F-value R2 (%) F-value for Father Mother Son Daughter single effects (n = 100) (n = 100) (n = 48) (n = 52) A: generation M M M M B: gender (SD) (SD) (SD) (SD) C: Interaction
Cultural Values Individualism 3.82ab 3.64a 4.03bc 4.21c 11.74*** 10.60 A: 28.19*** (0.59) (0.67) (0.56) (0.53) B: 0.00 C: 5.82* Collectivism 4.43 4.40 4.11 4.21 6.28*** 6.00 A: 17.95*** (0.47) (0.43) (0.63) (0.51) B: 0.39 C: 1.06 Self-Construal Independence 3.19b 2.86a 3.99c 4.09c 36.56*** 27.00 A: 100.93*** (0.92) (0.88) (0.71) (0.62) B: 1.32 C: 4.40* Interdependence 4.60 4.67 3.82 3.85 51.44*** 34.30 A: 153.44*** (0.47) (0.35) (0.74) (0.67) B: 0.52 C: 0.11
*p < .05, *** p < .001. .Notes. Different letters indicate significant differences between groups. 124 Chapter 6. Results
Again, a significant interaction effect occurred due to differences between parents: fathers showed significantly higher values for independent self-construal as compared to mothers, but significantly lower than that of the adolescents. By looking at the amount of explained variance, it becomes obvious that the intergenerational differences in the self-construal were more pronounced compared to the values of individualism and collectivism (see Table 7). In order to compare the relevance of each of both types of values and the self-construal, t- tests for dependent measures were computed. These tests showed that collectivism was significantly more important than individualism for both mothers, t(99) = -10.86, p < .01, and fathers, t(99) = -10.03, p < .01, while no difference was found neither for boys, t(47) = -0.67, p = .51, nor for girls, t(51) = 0.07, p = .94. This suggests that both value dimensions were similarly important for the adolescents. T-tests for the self-construal showed that the interdependent self- construal was more strongly emphasized than the independent self-construal by mothers, t(99) = - 17.89, p < .001, and by fathers, t(99) = -13.37, p < .001. No difference occurred for boys, t(47) = -1.12, p = .27, while for girls independent self-construal was marginally higher than interdependent self-construal, t(51) = -1.79, p < .10.
Generational gap within the families
MANOVA analyses conducted with mothers, fathers, and adolescents as within subject factor revealed significant effects of all four variables (see Table 8). The results were similar to those from the cohort analysis reported above. A significant within the family difference between parents and adolescents occurred with respect to individualism and collectivism. Both fathers and mothers scored higher on collectivism and lower on individualism than their own children (see Table 8). Furthermore, interdependent self-construal was more evident in parents than in their children and independent self-construal was seen more in children than in their parents. The difference between fathers and mothers on independent self-construal scale was also found: husbands scored significantly higher than their wives (see Table 8).
Chapter 6: Results 125
Table 8 Within Family Comparisons for Values and Self-Construals
Fathers Mothers Adolescents Comparisons (n = 100) (n = 100) (n = 100) VOC M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) F (2/198) 1/2 1/3 2/3
Cultural Values Individualism 3.82 (0.59) 3.64 (0.67) 4.13 (0.55) 17.33*** - ** ** Collectivism 4.43 (0.43) 4.40 (0.43) 4.16 (0.57) 10.74*** - ** ** Self-Construals Independence 2.86 (0.88) 3.19 (0.19) 4.05 (0.67) 61.90*** * ** ** Interdependence 4.67 (0.35) 4.60 (0.47) 3.83 (0.70) 78.38*** - ** **
*p < .05, **p < .01, *** p < .001. Notes. F-values adjusted for sphericity.
Analysis of the items from the individualism/collectivism scales
Each of the value dimensions (individualism/collectivism) consists in separate values. In spite of the general differences reported above, an item-based perspective might give some more specific insight into the documented differences. The individualist scale was developed from items of Schwartz’s (1990) openness to change dimension, which is composed of self-direction, stimulation, and hedonism. The collectivist scale corresponds to conservation dimension consisting of security, conformity and tradition values (see 5.2.1). The single items for individualism showed that the self-direction items (items 6 and 7) showed minimal differences between parents and children compared to stimulation and hedonism (see Table 9). For collectivism, the value that was evaluated as least important by both generations was obedience (item 6), where the differences between younger and older generations were small. 126 Chapter 6. Results
Table 9 Means and Standard Deviations for Value Items
Parents Adolescents Mothers Fathers Girls Boys M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)
Individualism 3.64 (0.67) 3.82 (0.59) 4.21 (0.53) 4.03 (0.56) 1. Exciting life (stimulating experiences) 3.23 (1.27) 3.47 (1.24) 3.87 (0.97) 3.73 (0.96)
2. Pleasure (enjoyment, amusement, or 3.19 (1.06) 3.39 (1.03) 4.29 (0.87) 4.25 (0.79) gratification of desires) 3. Creativity (uniqueness, imagination) 3.76 (1.02) 3.64 (1.03) 4.27 (0.89) 3.98 (0.96)
4. A varied life (filled with challenge, 3.11 (1.08) 3.26 (0.98) 3.98 (1.00) 3.77 (1.02) novelty, and change) 5. Being daring (seeking adventure, risk) 3.54 (1.18) 3.84 (1.08) 3.62 (0.89) 3.46 (1.25)
6. Freedom (freedom of action and thought) 4.32 (0.75) 4.63 (0.65) 4.62 (0.69) 4.56 (0.71)
7. Independence (self-reliance, choosing 4.34 (0.78) 4.51 (0.67) 4.87 (0.34) 4.48 (0.71) your own goals and interests)
Collectivism 4.40 (0.43) 4.43 (0.47) 4.21 (0.51) 4.11 (0.63)
1. Honor of your parents and elders 4.60 (0.70) 4.65 (0.64) 4.45 (0.67) 4.35 (0.84) (showing respect) 2. Social order (stability of society) 4.21 (0.70) 4.34 (0.77) 4.02 (0.87) 4.04 (.80)
3. National security (protection of your 4.46 (0.73) 4.57 (0.76) 4.00 (0.97) 3.83 (1.12) own nation from enemies) 4. Self-discipline (self-restraint, resistance 4.43 (0.67) 4.34 (0.84) 4.40 (0.72) 4.25 (.86) to temptation) 5. Politeness (courtesy, good manners) 4.73 (0.49) 4.63 (0.58) 4.52 (0.73) 4.29 (.82)
6. Obedience (fulfilling duties, meeting 3.98 (0.97) 4.03 (0.96) 3.86 (0.94) 3.87 (.94) obligations)
Chapter 6: Results 127
Summary
The generation gap was tested by using cohort analyses as well as within family analyses. The main goal was to test the assumption of generational differences (hypotheses 4 and 5). The cohort analyses showed that parents hold higher collectivist values and lower individualist values, whereas the younger generation considered both values as equally important. Also, parents had higher interdependent and lower interdependent self-construal, whereas the younger generation showed similar or a higher independent self-construal. Therefore, both hypotheses were confirmed and it can be concluded that the assumed intergenerational gap exists in Romania. The within-family analyses yielded similar results. This means that such differences do not only exist at the societal level of generation but also at the level of biologically related generations. The item-based perspective showed that in spite of general generational differences, they also share some specific values of these dimensions.
6.4 The Transmission of Values and Self-Construal from Parents to Children
In the present study, two main hypotheses and one general research question are about the transmission of values from parents to their adolescent children. First, a direct intergenerational transmission is assumed (hypothesis 6). Therefore, a positive relationship between parents’ values and self-orientation and children’s values and self-construal is expected. Second, it is an explorative question here whether the relationship quality associated with parents (intimacy, admiration, and conflict) and the parenting (acceptance, control, and rejection) have a direct impact on the development of adolescents’ value orientations and self-construal. Third, based on hypothesis 7, the moderating influence of four aspects on the process of intergenerational transmission was explored: (1) the relationship quality, (2) the parenting, (3) the parents’ actual values agreement and (4) the perception of social changes. To test the hypotheses and address the explorative question hierarchical regressions analyses with each of the four values were conducted. All analyses were carried out separately for the four parent-child dyads: daughter-mother, daughter-son, father-daughter, and father-son. Due to some correlations between socio-demographic variables and the values (see 6.1), the four socio-demographic variables (number of siblings, children’s age, parent’s education, and 128 Chapter 6. Results family socio-economic status) were partialled out in the first step. The respective value or the self-construal of mother/father was entered in the second step. The variables of relationship quality and parenting respectively were included in the third step in order to test their direct effect on the adolescents’ values and self-construal. The interaction term between parents’ values and the moderator variables from step three was entered in the fourth step in order to test the moderator effects for the transmission (see also 5.4). For reasons of clarity, the results from the first step (demographic variables) are reported in the notes of each table. Furthermore, results of the second step are reported only in the case of significant effects. The description of the results will be presented in correspondence to the hypotheses and the research question: first, the direct influences of parents’ values and self-construal on children’s values and self-construal are described (hypothesis 6) (6.4.1); second, the influence of the relationship quality and the parenting on values and self-construal are documented (6.4.2); and third the moderating effects of relationship quality, parenting style, parents’ agreement and perception of social change are depicted (6.4.3).
6.4.1 Direct transmission
Irrespective of dyads, hypothesis 6 predicts a positive relationship between the values and the self-construal of parents and those of children. Therefore, the direct relationship between values of parents and their children was first tested by using correlation analyses. No significant correlations occurred between individualism, independent and interdependence self-construal of fathers/mothers and the respective values of sons/daughters. Significant correlations were found for collectivism in the father-son and the mother-son dyads (see Table 10). For daughters, no intergenerational relations for collectivism were found. When testing for differences in the correlations in the two subsamples, it was found that the correlation in the father-son dyad was significantly different from that in the father-daughter dyads, z = 1.65, p = .09. The correlations in the mother-son and mother-daughter dyads were not significantly different from each other, z = 1.05, p = .29. In general, the direct transmission, as documented by Pearson correlations, was rare. Chapter 6: Results 129
Table 10 Correlations between Children’s and Parents’ Values and Self-Construal
Fathers Mothers (n = 100) (n = 100) Variables Children Sons Daughters Children Sons Daughters (n = 100) (n = 48) (n = 52) (n = 100) (n = 48) (n = 52)
Individualism -.02 -.07 .06 .01 .11 -.14 Collectivism .23* .40** .08a .18+ .28** .07 Independence .03 -.11 .21 .10 .13 .06 Interdependence -.12 -.14 -.11 .11 .18 .01
+p < .10, **p < .01. Notes: a. significant difference between females and males.
Since this correlation analysis did not control for demographic variables, a regression analysis was added. Demographic variables were entered in the first step. In the second step the parents’ importance on the same value was entered according to the adolescents’ value category, which was analyzed as a dependent variable. Similar to the results reported above, only one out of four values was transmitted from parent to child, namely the collectivist values of the father and of the mother further to the son. Collectivism of father significantly predicted the collectivism of sons, β = .37, p < .05. The full model with control variables explained a sizable proportion of variance, R2 = .21, F(5, 42) = 2.24, p < .10. Further, a positive relation concerning collectivist values was found in the mother-son dyad, β = .30, p < .05. The full model with control variables showed a trend towards significance, F(5, 42) = 2.15, p < .10 and explained 20 % of the variance of the sons’ collectivism. To summarize, the results of these analyses showed that hypothesis 6 was only partly confirmed, namely only with respect to the collectivist values, and only in the case of the sons, not of the daughters. No transmission of individualism, independent self-construal and interdependent self-construal occurred in any of the four parent-child dyads even after having controlled for the socio-demographic characteristics. 130 Chapter 6. Results
6.4.2 Direct effects of relationship quality and parenting on values and self- construal of adolescents
Step 3 of the regression analyses was to test the impact of the relationship quality and the parenting on adolescents’ value system. The impact can be seen in the increase of the explained variance (ΔR2) and the increase of the related F-values (ΔF) for step 3 across all analyses (see Tables 11 to 16).
Predictors for daughters’ values and self-construal
Individualism (Tables 11 and 12). One aspect of fathers’ parenting, one aspect of the relationship quality to father, and one aspect of the relationship to mother were significant predictors of the daughters’ individualist values: rejection from father, β = .23, p < .10 (see Table 11), conflict with father, β = .23, p < .05, and intimacy with mother. β = -.28, p < .05 (see Table 12).
Table 11 Hierarchical Regression Analyses. Parenting Predicting Daughters’ Individualism/Collectivism
Individualism Collectivism Influences from MOTHER (n = 52) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF
3 Acceptance Mother -.01 .17 .00 .01 .28+ .16 .07 3.69+ 4 Interaction 2X3 .14 .19 .02 .93 -.08 .17 .01 0.27 3 Control Mother -.05 .17 .00 .13 -.22 .14 .04 2.32 4 Interaction 2X3 -.17 .20 .03 1.47 -.14 .16 .02 0.93 3 Rejection Mother .14 .19 .02 1.09 -.33* .20 .11 5.99* 4 Interaction 2X3 -.09 .19 .01 .37 .01 .20 .00 .01
Influences from FATHER (n = 52) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF
3 Acceptance Father -.11 .14 .01 .54 .31* .20 .09 4.60* 4 Interaction 2X3 -.10 .15 .01 .39 .01 .20 .00 .01 3 Control Father -.05 .13 .00 .10 -.11 .12 .01 .54 4 Interaction 2X3 .27+ .18 .05 2.52+ -.14 .14 .02 .82 3 Rejection Father .23+ .18 .05 2.68+ -.25+ .17 .06 3.00+ 4 Interaction 2X3 .11 .19 .01 .50 .06 .17 .00 .14
+p < .10, *p < .05. Notes. Following demographic variables were significant: family economic status had significant positive influence on individualism of daughter (β = .31*); age of daughters had a significant negative effect on collectivism (β = -.26); Chapter 6: Results 131
Table 12 Hierarchical Regression Analyses. Relationship Quality to Parents Predicting Daughters’ Individualism/Collectivism
Individualism Collectivism Influences from MOTHER (n = 52) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF
3 Intimacy Mother -.28* .24 .08 4.51* .28* .17 .08 4.01* 4 Interaction 2X3 -.15 .27 .02 1.27 .01 .17 .00 .01 3 Admiration Mother -.01 .17 .00 .00 .35* .20 .11 5.78* 4 Interaction 2X3 -.10 .18 .01 .47 -.14 .21 .01 .84 3 Conflict Mother .08 .17 .00 .00 -.44** .27 .18 10.74** 4 Interaction 2X3 -.14 .19 .02 .85 .02 .27 .00 .03
Influences from FATHER (n = 52) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF
3 Intimacy Father -.04 .13 .00 .06 .08 .12 .01 .30 4 Interaction 2X3 .06 .14 .01 .17 .09 .12 .00 .29 3 Admiration Father .03 .13 .00 .04 .22 .16 .05 2.31 4 Interaction 2X3 -.11 .14 .01 .60 .11 .17 .01 .52 3 Conflict Father .23+ .18 .05 2.67+ -.16 .14 .03 1.21 4 Interaction 2X3 .18 .18 .00 .18 -.06 .14 .00 .15
+p < .10, *p < .05. Notes the following demographic variables were significant: family economic status had significant positive influence on individualism of daughter (β = .31*); age of daughters had a significant negative effect on collectivism (β = -.26);
A higher extent of perceived rejection by father and conflict with father led to higher individualism in daughters. Moreover, higher intimacy in the relationship to the mother decreased the extent of individualistic values of the daughters (see Table 12). Acceptance from mother and father, rejection from mother, admiration from mother and father, intimacy with father, and conflict with mother were not predictive. Collectivism (Tables 11 and 12). As compared to individualist values, more variables of parenting style and relationship quality to both mother and father were found as significant predictors of the daughters’ values of collectivism. Higher acceptance from mother led to higher collectivism, β = .28, p < .10 (see Table 11); rejection from mother decreased the extent of daughter’s collectivistic values, β = -.33, p < .05 (see Table 11). The father’s parenting style 132 Chapter 6. Results contributed in a similar way to daughter’s collectivism: the higher the acceptance, β = .31, p < .05, and the lower the perceived rejection, β = -.25, p < .10, the greater was the importance of collectivism (see Table 11). Control by mother or father did not contribute to the collectivist values of daughters. Furthermore, all three aspects of relationship quality to mother significantly influenced the daughters’ collectivism. Intimacy and admiration from mother positively increased the collectivistic values, β = .28, p < .05 resp. β = .35, p < .05 (see Table 12). Conflict with mother exerted a negative effect on daughters’ collectivism, β = -.44, p < .01 (see Table 12). No relation with the paternal relationship quality was revealed. Independent Self-Construal (Tables 13 and 14). None of the relationship and parenting variables played a significant role in the independence of daughters (neither the relationship quality to mother nor to father).
Table 13 Hierarchical Regression Analyses Summary for Parents’ Parenting Predicting Daughters’ Self-Construal
Independence Interdependence Influences from MOTHER (n = 52) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF
3 Acceptance Mother -.06 .05 .01 .14 .34* .20 .10 5.59* 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.21 .08 .03 1.76 -.18 .23 .03 1.70 3 Control Mother .16 .06 .02 1.05 -.15 .12 .02 1.02 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.02 .06 .00 .02 .34* .21 .09 4.97* 3 Rejection Mother .21 .09 .00 2.24 -.40* .25 .15 9.29* 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .06 .09 .01 .17 .20 .29 .03 2.08
Influences from FATHER (n = 52) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF
3 Acceptance Father .10 .06 .01 .45 .45** .27 .16 10.41* 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .36* .16 .10 5.11* -.10 .28 .02 .31 3 Control Father -.12 .07 .01 .65 -.19 .13 .02 1.65 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.10 .08 .01 .40 .09 .14 .01 .27 3 Rejection Father .07 .06 .01 .19 -.42** .25 .14 8.80** 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.65* .12 .06 2.90* .10 .26 .01 .58
+p < .10, *p < .05. Notes. The following demographic variable had significant effects: age of daughters had a significant negative effect on their interdependence (β = -.26). Chapter 6: Results 133
Table 14 Hierarchical Regression Analyses Summary for Relationship Quality to Parents Predicting Daughters’ Self-Construal
Independence Interdependence Influences from MOTHER (n = 52) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF
3 Intimacy Mother -.14 .06 .02 .86 .38* .24 .14 8.08* 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .06 .06 .06 .12 -.19 .27 .03 1.82 3 Admiration Mother -.07 .05 .01 .19 .33* .19 .09 4.98* 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .06 .05 .00 .15 -.24+ .24 .05 2.95+ 3 Conflict Mother .08 .05 .01 .28 -.41** .25 .15 8.85* 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.01 .05 .00 .01 .11 .26 .01 .64
Influences from FATHER (n = 52) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF
3 Intimacy Father .23 .10 .05 2.39 .12 .11 .01 .61 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .16 .12 .02 .90 -.37* .20 .09 4.58* 3 Admiration Father .07 .05 .00 .21 .35* .21 .11 6.20* 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .34* .14 .09 4.35* -.12 .22 .01 .56 3 Conflict Father .01 .05 .00 .00 -.34* .20 .10 5.31* 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.42* .17 .12 5.96* .11 .21 .01 .37
+p < .10; *p < .05. Notes. The following demographic variable had significant effects: age of daughters had a significant negative effect on their interdependence (β = -.26)
Interdependent Self-Construal (Tables 13 and 14). Similar to collectivism, parenting style of mother and father had a strong impact on interdependent self-construal of the daughter. High acceptance from mother, β = .34, p < .05, and father, β = .45**, p < .01, and low rejection from mother, β = -.40, p < .05, and father, β = -.42, p < .05 predicted a stronger interdependent self- construal (see Table 13). Control was not a predictor for the interdependent self-construal. The dimensions of relationship quality to both mother and father were also predictive for daughters’ interdependent self-construal (see Table 14): high intimacy, β = .38, p < .05, and admiration from mother, β = .33, p < .05 were associated with higher value of interdependent self-construal. High frequency of conflict with mother decreased the daughters’ interdependent self-construal, β = - .41, p < .01. The predictive power of the paternal relationship quality was quite similar: higher 134 Chapter 6. Results admiration, β = .35, p < .05, and lower conflict with father, β = -.34, p < .05, increased the interdependent self-construal of the daughter (see Table 14). Intimacy with father played no role in this aspect of self-construal in the daughter
Predictors for sons’ values and self-construal The relationship quality and parenting had much less predictive power on the values and the self- construal of sons as compared to the daughters. Furthermore, other variables played an important role, such as “control”. Individualism. No variables were found to predict the individualistic values, neither from father, nor from mother, neither from parenting side, nor from the side of the relationship quality.
Table 15 Hierarchical Regression Analyses Summary for Parent’ Parenting Predicting Sons’ Interdependence and Collectivism
Interdependence Collectivism Influences from MOTHER (n = 48) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF 2 Value Mother .30* .20 .08 4.44* 3 Acceptance Mother .16 .19 .02 1.17 .24+ .25 .05 2.75+ 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .11 .20 .01 .37 -.03 .25 .00 .05 3 Control Mother .16 .19 .02 1.17 -.02 .20 .00 .02 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .11 .20 .01 .37 -.13 .22 .02 .81 3 Rejection Mother .05 .17 .00 .10 .00 .20 .00 .00 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .31* .25 .08 3.95* .27 .25 .05 2.58
Influences from FATHER (n = 48) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF
2 Value Father .37* .21 .10 6.18* 3 Acceptance Father .25+ .17 .05 2.69+ .25+ .26 .05 2.93+ 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.26 .22 .05 2.52 -.17 .29 .03 1.30 3 Control Father .16 .14 .02 1.04 .29* .28 .07 4.13* 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .12 .15 .01 .01 .18 .31 .03 1.64 3 Rejection Father -.09 .13 .01 .36 .03 .21 .00 .04 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.03 .13 .01 .05 .06 .21 .00 .14
+p < .10; *p < .05. Notes. Among the demographic variables, family economic status had significant positive influence on interdependence of sons (β = .26+). Chapter 6: Results 135
Table 16 Hierarchical Regression Analyses Summary for Relationship Quality to Parents Predicting Sons’ Interdependence and Collectivism
Interdependence Collectivism Influences from MOTHER (n = 48) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF
2 Value Mother .30* .20 .08 4.44* 3 Intimacy Mother -.09 .18 .01 .40 .42** .37 .17 10.70** 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.19 .21 .03 1.24 .03 .37 .00 .04 3 Admiration Mother -.05 .17 .00 .14 .10 .21 .01 .44 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.12 .18 .01 .60 .10 .22 .01 .47 3 Conflict Mother -.12 .18 .01 .63 -.08 .21 .01 .33 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .15 .20 .02 .87 .09 .22 .01 .34
Influences from FATHER (n = 48) Variable β R2 ΔR2 ΔF β R2 ΔR2 ΔF
2 Value Father .37* .21 .10 6.18* 3 Intimacy Father .14 .13 .01 .33 .19 .25 .04 1.91 4 Interaction (step 2x3) .18 .15 .02 .90 -.03 .25 .00 .04 3 Admiration Father -.01 .12 .00 .01 .05 .21 .00 .13 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.15 .14 .02 .75 -.16 .24 .02 1.18 3 Conflict Father -.36* .24 .12 6.76* -.07 .22 .01 .22 4 Interaction (step 2x3) -.05 .24 .00 .08 .10 .22 .00 .41
+p < .10; *p < .05. Notes. Among the demographic variables, family economic status had significant positive influence on interdependence of sons (β = .26+)
Collectivism (Tables 15 and 16). In contrast, some influences of parenting on collectivist values were found (see Table 15). High degree of perceived acceptance from mother, β = .24, p < .10, and father, β = .29, p < .05, predicted stronger collectivistic values of sons. Different from daughters, the perceived rejection from mother and from father played no role in the collectivism of the sons, however, control from father positively influenced collectivism, β = .29, p < .05. Control from mother had no impact on the collectivism of sons. Additionally, intimacy with mother predicted stronger collectivism of sons, β = .42, p < .01 (see Table 16). Independent Self-Construal. None of the relationship variables played a significant role on the independent self-construal of sons. 136 Chapter 6. Results
Interdependent Self-Construal (Tables 15 and 16). Two variables were predictive for sons’ interdependent self-construal. Whereas the mother had no influence, acceptance from father and conflict with father played a role for the interdependent self-construal (see Table 15 and 16). The higher the acceptance from father, the more interdependent was the son’s self-construal, β = .25, p < .10 (see Table 15). The higher the frequency of conflicts with the father, the less interdependent was the son’s self-construal, β = -.36, p < .05 (see Table 16).
Summary
Three aspects can be mentioned here. First, the direct impact of parenting style and especially the relationship quality was much stronger than the direct transmission of the values tested above. Second, the parenting style and the relationship quality had a much stronger impact on daughters as compared to sons. Third, both parental characteristics had a strong impact, especially on collectivism and interdependent self-construal. Seven of 12 predictors were significant for daughters’ collectivism and 9 of 12 predictors for their interdependent self-construal. Higher acceptance and less rejection from mother and father were associated with higher collectivist values in daughter. A positive relationship to mother (high intimacy, high admiration, low conflict) also correlated with greater collectivistic values. In a similar way, higher acceptance and less rejection from mother and father predicted a stronger interdependent self-construal as well as high intimacy, high admiration and low conflict with mother. Furthermore, higher admiration and lower conflict with father were also associated with higher interdependent self-construal of the daughters. Intimacy with father and control by mother and father had no impact here. In contrast, only 4 of 12 predictors were significant for sons’ collectivism and 2 of 12 for sons’ interdependent self-construal. Higher acceptance from mother and father and higher control by fathers predicted higher collectivist values in sons. Higher intimacy with mother also increased the sons’ collectivist values. For interdependence, only acceptance from father was predictive. The higher the frequency of conflicts with the father, the less interdependent was the son’s self-construal. Whereas none of the parenting and relationship quality variables predicted sons’ individualism and independent self-construal, conflict and lack of intimacy led to higher individualism scores for daughters. Also, a higher extent of perceived rejection and conflict with Chapter 6: Results 137 father led to higher individualism in daughters, and higher intimacy in the relationship to the mother reduced the degree of individualistic values.
6.4.3 Moderators of the intergenerational value transmission
Up to now, the direct transmission of values and the direct impact of parenting and relationship quality on values and self-construal were tested. According to the theoretical assumptions mentioned earlier, parenting and relationship quality as well as parents’ agreement regarding such values and the perception of the social change might moderate the intergenerational transmission (see 3.3.2 – 3.3.4). In a last step of hierarchical regression analyses, the parenting dimensions (acceptance, rejection, and control), the relationship quality to mother/father (intimacy, admiration and conflict), the parents’ actual values agreement, and the perception of the social change (the similarity of perception within each of the four dyads) were tested for moderating effects on the intergenerational value transmission. The results are presented in the order of the four moderators.
6.4.3.1 Parenting style
Hypothesis 7a predicted that acceptance from mother and father increases the transmission of values and self-construal from parents to children; hypothesis 7d predicted that rejection should reduce the amount of the intergenerational transmission. For the control variable no hypothesis was generated.
Parenting style and intergenerational transmission in the mother-daughter and father- daughter dyads
For individualism of daughters, the analyses revealed a significant interaction between the individualistic value of father and control by father, β = .27, p < .10 (see Table 11). Inspection of the slopes in the three groups of control (high, medium and high) indicated that there was only a negative marginally significant correlation in the group of low controlling fathers, β = -.39, p < .10 (see Table 17). This indicates that in the group of fathers using less behavioral control (relative to the mean value), a negative relation between individualism of fathers and individualism of daughters occurred: the higher the individualism of father, the lower was the individualism of daughter (see Figure 5). In contrast, in the group of fathers using more control, 138 Chapter 6. Results there was a positive relationship between individualism of daughters and individualism of father, otherwise not significant.
2,4
2,3
2,2
2,1 Individualism Daughters Individualism 2,0 -0,58 0 0,58 Individualism Fathers Control low medium high
Figure 5. Transmission of Individualism from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Control from Fathers
Mothers’ parenting style had no moderating influence on the transmission of their individualistic values to daughters. The transmission of collectivism from mothers and fathers to their daughters was not moderated by the parenting style (see Table 11). The perceived acceptance from father significantly influenced the transmission of fathers’ independent self-construal to their daughters, β = .36, p < .05 (see Table 13). According to the slopes of the three groups of acceptance, significant positive relations between individualism of father and individualism of daughter were found for medium and high acceptant fathers, β = .30, p < .05 resp. β = 55, p < .05 (see Table 17 and Figure 6). This indicates that higher acceptance from father enhanced the transmission of interdependent self-construal from fathers to daughters.
4,8
4,6
4,4
4,2
4,0
Independence Daughters 3,8 -0,89 0 0,89 Independence Fathers Acceptance low medium high
Figure 6. Transmission of Independence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Acceptance from Fathers Chapter 6: Results 139
Table 17 Standardized Coefficients for Regressions Examining Interactions of Mother’s and Father’s Values/Self- orientations With Parenting Styles to Adolescent’s Values and Self-Orientations
Criterion Predictor Moderator Level of β t Moderator
Individualism Son Individualism Acceptance Father One SD below Father mean -.48 2.27* Mean -.08 -.47 One SD above .31 1.14 mean Individualism Individualism Control Father One SD below Daughter Father mean -.39 -1.47+ Mean -.13 -.80 One SD above .14 .74 mean Independence Independence Acceptance Father One SD below Daughter Father mean .05 .32 Mean .30 2.06* One SD above .55 2.58* mean Independence Independence Rejection Father One SD below Daughter Father mean .45 2.06* Mean .69 1.93+ One SD above .10 .59 mean Interdependence Interdependence Control Mother One SD below Daughter Mother mean -.49 -1.75+ Mean -.16 -1.03 One SD above .14 .84 mean Interdependence Interdependence Rejection Mother One SD below Son Mother mean -.07 -.34 Mean .23 1.64+ One SD above .57 2.59* mean
+ p < .10; * p < .05.
140 Chapter 6. Results
Perceived rejection from father significantly influenced the transmission of fathers’ independent self-construal to daughters further, β = -.65, p < .05 (see Table 13). Positive significant relations were found in the groups of low and medium rejecting fathers (β = .45, p < .05 and β = .69, p < .10). Highly rejected fathers had no influence on the transmission of independence to daughters (see Table 17 and Figure 7). Mothers’ parenting style had no influence on the intergenerational transmission of independent self-construal.
4,7
4,5
4,3
4,1
3,9
3,7 IndependenceDaughters 3,5 -0,89 0 0,89 Independence Fathers Rejection low medium high
Figure 7: Transmission of Independence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Rejection from Fathers
3,8
3,6
3,4
3,2
Interdependence Daughters 3,0 -0,32 0 0,32 Interdependence Mothers Control low medium high
Figure 8: Transmission of Interdependence from Mothers to Daughters Moderated by Control from Mothers Chapter 6: Results 141
Further, a significant influence of perceived control from mother on the transmission of interdependent self-construal from mother to daughter was found, β = .34, p < .01 (see Table 13). Analyses of the three groups of high, medium and low controlling mothers revealed a marginally significant negative correlation in the low controlling group, β = -.49, p < .10 (see Table 17). This means that in the group of low controlling mothers, as compared to medium and high controlling mothers, the higher the maternal interdependent self-construal, the lower was the interdependent self-construal of daughters (see Figure 8). Fathers’ parenting style played no role in the transmission of their interdependent self- construal further to daughters (see Table 13).
Parenting style and transmission in the mother-son and father-son dyads
The regression analyses revealed a significant interaction between individualism of father and acceptance from father for the prediction of individualism of sons, β = .39, p < .05, ΔR2 = .11, ΔF = 5.42, p < .05. A closer examination of the three groups of acceptance from fathers found a significant relation only in the group of low acceptant fathers, β = -.49, p < .05 (see Table 17). Those fathers who were perceived as less acceptant by their sons had a negative impact on sons’ individualistic values: the more individualistic the father, the less individualistic the sons (see Figure 9). Mothers’ parenting did not influence the transmission of their individualism to sons.
3,8
3,6
3,4
3,2
Individualism Sons 3,0 -0,6 0 0,6 Individualism Fathers Acceptance low medium high
Figure 9: Transmission of Individualism from Fathers to Sons Moderated by Acceptance from Fathers 142 Chapter 6. Results
The perceived rejection from mother in the mother-son dyad significantly influenced the transmission of interdependent self-construal from mother to son (see Table 15). The inspection of slopes revealed a positive correlation between value of mother and value of son in the groups of mothers who were perceived as medium and high rejecting, β = .23, p < .10 and β = .57, p < .05 (see Table 17 and Figure 10). The more rejecting the mothers, the stronger was the transmission of their interdependent self-construal to the sons. The perception of fathers’ parenting had no influence on the transmission of interdependence (see Table 15). Parenting style was not a moderator for the transmission of collectivism and independent self-construal, neither in the mother-son dyad, nor in the father-son dyad.
3,5
3,2
2,9
2,6
2,3 Interdependende Sons 2,0 -0,38 0 0,38 Interdependence Mothers Rejection low medium high
Figure 10: Transmission of Interdependence from Fathers to Sons Moderated by Rejection from Mothers
6.4.3.2 Relationship quality as a moderator for intergenerational transmission
Hypotheses 7b and 7c predicted a positive influence of “intimacy” and “admiration” on the transmission of values and self-construal from parents to adolescents. “Conflict” should decrease the transmission (hypothesis 7e). Relationship quality and transmission in the mother-daughter and father-daughter dyads The transmission of the independent self-construal was influenced by the quality of relationship to father, namely the extent of admiration and conflict (see Table 14). The paternal independent self-construal was further transmitted to daughters when admiration from father was either medium or high relative to the mean value of admiration, β = .34, p < .05 and β = .56, p < .05, but not when admiration was low (see Table 18 and Figure 11). Furthermore, fathers were successful in transmitting their value of independent self-construal to daughters when the Chapter 6: Results 143
5,0
4,8 4,6 4,4
4,2
Independence Daughters 4,0 -0,89 0 0,89 Independence Fathers Admir at ion low medium high
Figure 11: Transmission of Independence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Admiration
4,6
4,4
4,2 4,0 3,8 3,6
Independence Daughters 3,4 -0,89 0 0,89 Independence Fathers
Conflict low medium high
Figure 12: Transmission of Independence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Conflict with Fathers
3,9 3,7 3,5
3,3
3,1 2,9 2,7
Interdependence Daughters 2,5 -0,49 0 0,49 Interdependence Fathers Intimacy low medium high Figure 13: Transmission of Interdependence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Intimacy 144 Chapter 6. Results intergenerational conflict was perceived as either low or medium, β = .62, p < .05 and β = .36, p < .05 (see Table 18). High conflict was not a moderator of the examined value (see Table 18 and Figure 12). Relationship to mother did not moderate the transmission of independent self- construal (see Table 14).
Table 18 Standardized Coefficients for Regressions Examining Interactions of Mother’s and Father’s Values/Self- Construals with Relationship Quality to Adolescent’s Values/Self-Construals
Criterion Predictor Moderator Level of β t Moderator
Interdependence Interdependence Intimacy One SD below Daughter Father Father mean .04 .23 Mean -.40 -2.29* One SD above -.71 -2.60* mean Independence Independence Admiration One SD below Daughter Father Father mean .05 .28 Mean .34 2.31* One SD above .56 2.51* mean Independence Independence Conflict One SD below Daughter Father Father mean .62 2.75* Mean .36 2.34* One SD above .03 .20 mean Individualism Individualism Conflict One SD below Son Father Father mean .17 .73 Mean .73 1.47 One SD above -.49 -1.83+ mean
+ p < .10; * p < .05.
Further analyses revealed a moderating effect of intimacy with father on the transmission of interdependent self-construal in the father-daughter dyad (see Table 14). Surprisingly, it was found that a negative relation between interdependence of father and interdependence of daughter exists when intimacy with father was either medium or high, β = -.40, p < .05 and β = -.71, p < Chapter 6: Results 145
.05. Low intimacy with father did not have an influence (see Table 18 and Figure 13). Again, relation to mother did not have an impact on mother-daughter similarities with respect to interdependence. Relationship quality to mother and father did not moderate the transmission of individualism and collectivism of mother and of father further to daughter.
Relationship quality and transmission in the mother-son and father-son dyads
With respect to these two dyads, the relationship quality moderated the transmission of one value out of four examined, namely the individualistic values in the father-son dyad, β = -.88, p < .10, ΔR2 = .07, ΔF = 3.27, p < .10. Conflict with father marginally influenced the transmission of individualism. A closer examination of slopes of the low, medium and high conflict groups showed that there was a significant negative relationship between individualism of father and of son in the high conflict group only β = -.49, p < .10 (see Table 21 and Figure 14). The more frequent the conflicts with father were, the more different are father and son in their individualistic value.
4,2
4,0
3,8
3,6
3,4 Individualism Sons
3,2 -0,6 0 0,6 Individualism Fathers Conflict low medium high Figure 14: Transmission of Individualism from Fathers to Sons Moderated by Conflict with Fathers
6.4.3.3 Parents’ actual value agreement
It was hypothesized that high parents’ actual agreement on each of the two values and the two self-construals should increase the extent of parent-child similarities on that aspect (hypothesis 8). For example, if both parents are high on collectivism, it is expected that the child is also high on collectivism. 146 Chapter 6. Results
The results showed that collectivism of daughters and interdependent self-construal of sons were influenced by the parents’ agreement on collectivism and interdependent self-construal, respectively. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the interaction between mother’s collectivism and parents’ actual agreement on collectivism was significant, β = .43, p < .05, ΔR2 = .05, ΔF = 3.79, p < .05. A closer examination of the slopes in the groups of high and low agreement showed a significant influence only in the group of parents who highly agreed on the collectivistic values (slopes .21 vs. 03) (see Figure 15).
4,4
4,3
4,2
4,1
4,0
Collectivism Daughters 3,9 -0,45 0 0,45 Collectivism Mothers Agreement M/F high low
Figure 15: Transmission of Collectivism from Mothers to Daughters Moderated by Parental Agreement on Collectivism
1,8
1,6
1,4
1,2
Interdependence Sons 1,0 -0,46 0 0,46 Interdependence Fathers Agreement M/F low high
Figure 16: Transmission of Interdependence from Fathers to Sons Moderated by Parental Agreement on Interdependence Chapter 6: Results 147
Parents’ agreement on interdependence influenced the transmission of the interdependence of fathers further to their sons, β = .50, p < .05, ΔR2 = .09, ΔF = 4.42, p < .05. A positive relation was found in both groups of high and low agreement, but much stronger in the group of high agreement (slopes .56 vs. .27) (see Figure 16). No moderating effects of parental agreement were found for individualism and independent self-construal, neither in the parent-son dyads, nor in the parents-daughters dyads.
6.4.3.4 Perception of the social change
Hypothesis 9 predicted that the extent of transmission of values from parents to children increases under conditions of similarity in the perception of social changes (social life and uncertainty) within each of the four dyads. For instance (as mentioned in the methods section), in order to measure how similar mother and daughter are in the way they perceive uncertainty in the society, an absolute difference score between mothers’ perception of uncertainty and daughters’ perception of uncertainty was obtained. This means that the lower the score, the more similar mothers and daughters are in the way they perceive the changes in the society. These new variables were used as moderators and introduced in the interaction terms. As with previous analyses, hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Only results of the last step are reported here (in tables and graphs, respectively). However, for the results and graphs from the next two sections, the scores were already reversed, in other words “low similarity” group for social life within the dyads means indeed low similarity. Only results for intergenerational similarities in the perception of social life are reported in the following. No significant results were found for the moderating effects of intergenerational similarities in the perception of uncertainty on the transmission of values from parents to adolescents.
Social Change and transmission in the mother-daughter and father-daughter dyads
Regression analyses revealed a significant interaction between individualism of mother and the mother-daughter similarity in the perception of social life for the prediction of daughters’ individualism, β = -.36, p < .01, ΔR2 = .12, ΔF = 7.47, p < .01. A closer examination of the three groups of mother-daughter similarity in the perception of social life showed a significant relation only in the group of low similarity, β = -.39, p < .05 (see Table 19 and Figure 17). This indicates that when mother and daughter had a rather different perspective on the changes related to social life, there was a negative relation between individualism of mother and individualism of 148 Chapter 6. Results daughter. In the group of high intergenerational similarities in the perception of social life, there was a positive relation, otherwise not significant (Figure 17). The father-daughter similarity in the perception of social life moderated the transmission of independent self-construal from father further to daughter, β = -.33, p < .05, ΔR2 = .10, ΔF = 5.48, p < .05. The inspection of the slopes showed a significant positive relation between independent self-construal of father and of daughter in the group of high similarity in perception, β = .37, p < .05 (see Table 19 and Figure 18). The more similar the father and the daughter were in their perception of social life, the stronger the transmission of the independent self-construal from father to daughter.
3.8
3.6
3.4
3.2
Daughters Individualism 3.0 -0.65 0 0.65 Individualism mothers
Social Life low medium high
Figure 17: Transmission of Individualism from Mothers to Daughters Moderated by Social Life
4.6
4.4
4.2
4
3.8
Independence Daughters 3.6 -0.89 0 0.89 Independence Fathers Social Life Low Medium High
Figure 18: Transmission of Independence from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Social Life Chapter 6: Results 149
The same moderator, the father-daughter similarity in the perception of the social life, affected the transmission of collectivistic values in the father-daughter dyads, β = -.34, p < .05, ΔR2 = .10, ΔF = 5.33, p < .05. The examination of the three groups of father-daughter similarity in the perception of the social life revealed a positive marginally significant relation between collectivism of father and collectivism of daughter in the group of high similarity in perception, β = .36, p < .10 (see Table 19 and Figure 19), and a negative marginally significant relation in the group of low similarity in perception β = -.49, p < .10 (see Figure 19). These results show that a high similarity in the perception of social life between father and daughter fosters the transmission whereas a reduced similarity hinders the transmission of collectivism.
4.7
4.5
4.3
4.1
Daughters Collectivism 3.9 -0.51 0 0.51 Collectivism Fathers Social Life Low Medium High
Figure 19: Transmission of Collectivism from Fathers to Daughters Moderated by Social Life 150 Chapter 6. Results
Table 19 Standardized Coefficients for Regressions Examining Interactions of Mother’s and Father’s Values/Self- Construals with Social Life to Adolescent’s Values/Self-Construals
Criterion Predictor Moderator Level of β t Moderator Individualism Individualism Social Life One SD below Daughter Mother mean -.39 -2.65* Mean -.11 -1.01 One SD above .17 1.06 mean Independence Independence Social Life One SD below Daughter Father mean -.09 -.68 Mean .14 1.47 One SD above .37 2.73* mean Interdependence Interdependence Social Life One SD below Sons Father mean -.44 -1.78+ Mean -.04 -0.16 One SD above .36 0.97 mean Collectivism Collectivism Social Life One SD below Daughters Father mean -.49 -1.79+ Mean -.07 -0.46 One SD above .36 1.94+ mean
+ p < .10; * p < .05.
Social Change and transmission in the mother-son and father-son dyads
Regression analyses revealed only one marginally significant interaction in the parents-son dyads, namely regarding the transmission of the interdependent self-construal in the father-son dyads moderated by the father-son similarity in the perception of social life, β = -.35, p < .10, ΔR2 = .07, ΔF = 3.68, p < .10. Further analyses indicated that the significance was given by the negative marginally significant interaction in the group of low father-son similarity in perception, β = -.44, p < .10 (see Table 19 and Figure 20) This means that when there is a low similarity between father and son in the perception of Social Life, the stronger the interdependent self- construal of the father, the lower is the interdependent self-construal of the son. Chapter 6: Results 151
4,2
4
3,8
3,6
Interdependence Sons Interdependence 3,4 -0,46 0 0,46 Interdependence Fathers
Social Life low medium high
Figure 20: Transmission of Interdependent Self-construal from Fathers to Sons Moderated by Social Life
6.4.3.5 Summary
The moderation effects were not numerous and not very systematic. They varied depending on the specific dyad, the transmitted value, and the specific moderation variable. Hypothesis 7 could be partially supported. In contrast to the direct effects of parenting and relationship variables mainly on collectivism and interdependent self-construal of adolescents, the moderation effects primarily refer to individualism and independent self-construal, and to father-daughter dyads. Concerning the parenting style variables, a successful transmission of independent self- construal (i.e., positive relationship between fathers’ and daughters’ values) only occurred in dyads with medium and high acceptant fathers and in dyads with low and medium rejecting fathers. These results speak in favor of hypothesis 7a and 7d. However, many other expected moderation effects were not confirmed. Only one moderating transmission effect appeared for sons. A successful transmission of interdependent self-construal only occurred in dyads with medium and high rejecting mothers. This finding argues against hypothesis 7d. Concerning the relationship quality, a successful transmission of independent self-construal from fathers to daughters only occurred in dyads with medium or high admiration from fathers and with low or medium intergenerational conflicts. Again, these results speak in favor of hypothesis 7c and 7e. The assumption that high parents’ actual agreement on values may moderate the value transmission (hypothesis 8) was confirmed for daughters’ and mothers’ collectivism as well as 152 Chapter 6. Results for sons’ and fathers’ interdependent self-construal. This reveals that high similarity only resulted for those dyads in which the parental agreement about the specific value was high. With regard to the moderating effects of the parent-child similarity in the perception of social change on the transmission of values from parent to child, hypothesis 9 could be partly supported. A high similarity in the perception of social life between father and daughter predicted the transmission of collectivism in the father-daughter dyads, and the transmission of independent self-construal in the same dyads. Contrary to our expectations, similarities in the perception of uncertainty had no moderating effects. Finally it should be mentioned that some unexpected outcomes were found that point to a “negative transmission”. For example, in the group of low controlling mothers, the higher the maternal interdependent self-construal, the lower was the interdependent self-construal of daughters. Similarly, in the group of low controlling fathers, an inverse relation was found with regard to individualism of daughters: the more individualistic the father, the less individualistic was the daughter. Furthermore, fathers who were perceived as less acceptant by their sons showed an inverse value relation, i.e., the more individualistic the father, the less individualistic the sons. And surprisingly, such a negative value relation was found for fathers’ and daughter’s interdependent self-construal when intimacy with father was medium or high. Opposite values between sons and fathers clearly occurred in dyads with frequent conflicts. Apparently, the dynamics behind the transmission processes for daughters and sons point into different directions (see discussion). Furthermore, a “negative transmission” between individualism of mother and individualism of daughter occurred under conditions of low similarity in the perception of social life between mother and daughter. 153 7 Discussion
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the value transmission from parents to adolescent children by taking relationships, individual characteristics, and social change into account. The study was carried out in Romania, a country that is characterized by having been through strong socio-political changes since 1989. One issue addressed in this work was the intergenerational gap with respect to values and self-construal seen through the light of the new demands of a modernizing society. It was expected that the older generation still emphasizes more on traditional values (collectivistic values) and the importance of close social relationships (interdependent self-construal) whereas younger generation embraces modern values (individualistic values) and the importance of independence (independent self-construal). The intergenerational gap analyzes the two generations and neglects a developmental perspective. Even if such a gap exists, family can be seen as a central place of socialization for children in which internalization of values can be promoted through ongoing interactions. Therefore, the analysis of the transmission of values and self-construal from parents to adolescents was the most important focus of the analyses. This study contributes to the existing literature in the following two ways: First of all, most studies in this area focus on mother-child dyads. A main contribution of this study was to explore all four dyads: father-daughter, father-son, mother-daughter, and mother-son. Secondly, three models of transmission were constructed and tested. Due to the societal conditions, the direct transmission of values was assumed to exist but not to a very large extent. A second model assumed direct effects of the relationship quality to parents on values and self-construal of adolescents. Such effects were rarely tested in the literature up to now. Finally, relationship quality, parenting, parents’ actual agreement on each examined value, and parent- child similarity in the perception of social change were modeled as moderating effects examining the extent of the transmission of values and self-orientation. Furthermore, according to psychological approaches, such abrupt societal changes, as it is the case in Romania, affect different generations differently. The next goal of this study was to examine how different or how similar younger and older generations perceive the social changes. Additionally, the relations between the negative or positive perception of the social changes and 154 Chapter 7. Discussion various aspects of parent-child relationship and life satisfaction were investigated. The results of the study will be discussed in the order of relevance of the goals presented above: first, the results of the three transmission models are discussed. In the next section, the results of the hypothesis about the “generation gap” are interpreted, and finally, the findings related to social change are documented. After presenting some limitations of this study, the discussion will end with an outlook of future studies as a consequence of this study.
Transmission of values From a developmental-psychological perspective, family is the central place of socialization for children. The ongoing interactions between all family members may promote children’s internalization of values (e.g., Furstenberg, 1971; Youniss & Smollar, 1985). Based on theoretical assumptions and earlier studies, three different models of value transmission were outlined and tested here: (1) Direct transmission. Due to the societal conditions, the direct transmission of values was assumed to exist but not very strong. (2) A second model assumed that transmission does not happen in a direct way but it is rather a constructive process done by the adolescents. This means that the adolescents construct general values out of the specific relationship with parents and their parenting behavior. Such effects were only rarely tested in the literature. (3) Relationship quality, parenting, parents’ actual agreement, and parent-child similarity in the perception of social change were tested as moderating variables on the extent of the transmission of values and self-construal.
Direct intergenerational values transmission.
From a developmental perspective, the primary context for social interactions and for socialization of values is the family (Trommsdorff, in press). Therefore, a strong transmission can be expected. At the same time, contextual conditions may weaken or strengthen the transmission of values (Trommsdorff, in press). For this study, the social change may be highly relevant: Romania was marked by dramatic changes in the shift from a communist system with a centrally planned economy to a democratic system with a market economy. In spite of these considerations regarding abrupt social changes, positive relations between values and self-construal of parents and those of children in the Romanian families were expected (hypothesis 6).
Chapter 7. Discussion 155
Similar to what was found by Rohan and Zanna (1996), the current study revealed that a very selective transmission occurred within the Romanian families. The transmission was limited to collectivistic values within the father-son and mother-son dyads. Moreover, we deal here with a relative transmission (Vermulst et al., 1991) of collectivism from mother and father since mean differences between parent and child were found (see 6.3.2). Compared to other similar studies on parents-adolescents values transmission (e.g., Albert, 2007; Kohn et al., 1986; Roest et al., 2007; Vollebergh et al., 2001) the amount of direct transmission found here seems very weak. The majority of the parents included in this study lived at least 30 years under communist rule; they went to kindergarten, they graduated from communist schools, received their (forcefully distributed) jobs and lived their daily life with limited opportunities. Their children were born during the older system but they spend no more than 2 to 5 years under those conditions. Thus, it is safe to say that the parents and the children grew up in two different worlds, with very different demands and opportunities. On the one hand children are reluctant to accept the transmission of parents’ values and orientations, and on the other hand, parents may even hesitate to transmit their own orientations that do not correspond to the new “Zeitgeist” (Boehnke, 2001). The direct transmission of collectivist values seen in the current study is also confirmed in studies from acculturation research. Schoenpflug (2001) reports in her study conducted with Turkish father-son dyads in Germany that the transmission of values was restricted to the collectivistic values of universalism, humanism, security, traditionalism and conformity. The result that only collectivistic values are transmitted can be interpreted in the way that these values may serve the group maintenance and, they have a more altruistic content and therefore can lead to cooperation among larger groups of unrelated individuals (Schoenpflug, 2001). Similarly, Knafo and Schwartz (2003) as well as Roest et al. (2005, August; 2007) demonstrated support for a greater transmission of conservative as compared to individualistic values. Similarities in values can change in size and pattern over the life span (Trommsdorff, in press). Thus, weak relations at a certain developmental stage do not necessarily mean a failed transmission; rather, long-term effects of transmission should be studied, especially since during adolescence a certain distance is expected from the child’s side. It is likely that children also influence their parents in certain domains where the younger generation are more active. Pinquart and Silbereisen (2004) found in a longitudinal study that children have an important impact on
156 Chapter 7. Discussion parents’ beliefs regarding new technologies, traditional way of life, and even religion. Finally, parents and children may display different patterns of similarities on values other than the ones assessed in this study. Perhaps collectivism/individualism and the self-construal are more diffuse, more abstract and less visible in the everyday lives of most people as compared to religious or political values where stronger similarities were found (Jennings & Niemi, 1969, 1981). One can assume that such abstract values may be generated by the individual in an indirect way based on specific experiences within the family. This assumption was tested in the second model of transmission.
Influence of the relationship to parents on values and self-construal of adolescents
Up to now, very few empirical studies have tested the direct impact of family relationships on children’s values, and no specific theoretical models have been outlined. Therefore, this relation was tested in an explorative way. The main question was whether the quality of relationship to parents as perceived by children is predictive for children’s values and self-orientations. Three aspects of parenting style of mother and of father – acceptance, control, and rejection – and three aspects of relationship quality to mother and to father – intimacy, admiration, and conflict – were tested. The findings showed that the direct impact of parenting style and relationship quality on adolescents’ values was much stronger than the direct transmission of the same values from parents to offspring. The impact of these variables was especially strong in the case of daughters as compared to sons. Additionally, the parental characteristics primarily affected the values of collectivism and interdependent self-construal. The results are discussed in the following, separately for daughters and sons. A. The quality of relationship to parents and daughters’ values and self-construal. Many of the relationship variables examined in the current study predicted the value of collectivism: High perceived acceptance from mothers and from fathers and low perceived rejection from mothers and fathers were related to strong importance given to collectivist values. Moreover, feelings of intimacy and admiration from mothers positively affected the collectivist orientation of daughters. Conflict with mothers negatively affected the collectivism of daughters. The results lead to the conclusion that a good relationship to mothers and fathers make daughters appreciate
Chapter 7. Discussion 157 more the traditional values, to control their behaviors by following certain norms, and be preoccupied by order in and security of the own country. These findings are consistent with other studies (e.g., Albert, 2007). The current study suggests that parenting style of mothers and of fathers as well as the relationship quality to mothers and to fathers play a strong role for the formation of the interdependent self-construal of the daughters. High acceptance and high admiration received from both parents and strong intimacy with mothers make daughters emphasize more on the interdependent self-construal. Thus, they give high priority to family needs, and value harmony within the family. Rejection from both parents, and, additionally, frequent conflict with the parents lead to opposite outcomes in daughters. With respect to individualism, the findings showed that high perceived rejection from fathers and high frequency of conflicts with fathers led to stronger individualist values among daughters. It is suggested here that daughters who experience the relationship to fathers as being rejecting and conflictual tend to emphasize more to be independent and focus more on enjoyable experiences. Similarly, Rohner (2004) found that rejected children showed stronger defensive independence. Also, Albert (2007) found that strong conflict with mothers goes together with high individualist values among French adolescents. Furthermore, intimacy in the relationship with mothers led to less individualist values among daughters in this study. In this work, no connection was found between the independent self-construal of daughters and the above-mentioned aspects of parenting and relationship quality. This could reflect that adolescents form their independent view of the self from other sources outside the family (e.g., peers, educators, or media). So far, the functions of mothers and of fathers are rather similar for the values and the self- construal of the offspring. To some extent, these results are surprising if we consider findings of other studies. Previous studies have showed that fathers encourage independence and assertiveness in their children whereas mothers encourage interpersonal behaviors, such as manners and politeness (Power & Shanks, 1989). Altogether, mothers played a more dominant role for collectivism and interdependent self-construal of daughters. More studies are needed to investigate these relations between gender of the child and their parents. B. Relationship to parents and sons’ values and self-construal. As compared to daughters, relationship quality and parenting style was less predictive for values and self-construal of sons.
158 Chapter 7. Discussion
Furthermore, other parenting variables became relevant as predictors, especially control. Similar to daughters, perceived acceptance from parents was positively related to collectivist values of sons. Interestingly enough, control from father, but not from mother, positively influenced the collectivist orientation of their sons. It is suggested that fathers who control the behaviors of their sons encourage them in this way to be more disciplined and to take responsibility for their country. This relation does not function in the father-daughter dyads. Gecas and Schwalbe (1986) also found that paternal control (not maternal) was a strong predictor for boys’ self-efficacy, but not of daughters. Other analyses conducted by the author with the same data showed that in the case of boys, control by father was negatively associated with anxiety, but positively in the sample of daughters (Orheanu, 2005, August). This reveals that control by father may have a different meaning for the two genders. Moreover, two father variables contributed to the interdependent self-construal of their sons: higher acceptance and fewer conflicts led to strong emphasis on interdependent self- construal. Mother variables played no role in the formation of this aspect. Concerning individualism and independent self-construal none of the maternal and paternal variables examined here had a predictive contribution. To conclude, more parental variables were predictive for the values and self-construal of daughters as compared to sons. This difference can be explained by the fact that daughters spend more time with their parents and have a closer relationship to them whereas sons have more distant relations to the parents (Youniss & Smollar, 1985). For daughters, it seems that both fathers and mothers serve similar functions. The situation for sons differs. For them, especially fathers bring a particular contribution, suggesting thus a unique relation between fathers and sons. These aspects are very important for the current study, especially when we refer to transmission in societies experiencing strong social changes, which is the case of Romania, and where the parents’ values orientations are perhaps not examples to be followed by their children, but the influence of the parenting characteristics and relationship quality have a longer story and cannot be denied. The findings suggest that those mothers and fathers, who are perceived as acceptant and supportive by their children and have a positive relationship with their children based on intimacy and admiration, encourage their children to appreciate values such as obedience, security and tradition. Also, these children give priority to the family over other purposes and feel themselves as strongly related to their family.
Chapter 7. Discussion 159
Moderators of intergenerational values transmission
The process of intergenerational values transmission is not only affected by distant aspects (e.g., societal change) as mentioned above but also by more proximal characteristics. Following the theoretical arguments of other researchers and related empirical studies, the third model of transmission was conceptualized by assuming that the parenting variables (see above) may have moderation effects. More specifically, the three parenting dimensions (acceptance, rejection, and control), the relationship quality to mother/father (intimacy, admiration and conflict), parents’ actual values agreement, and parent-child similarity in the perception of social change (social life and uncertainty) were tested for moderation effects on value transmission. It was assumed that the similarity between parents’ and children’s values and self orientation will be stronger under conditions of higher acceptance (hypothesis 7a), higher intimacy (hypothesis 7b), and higher admiration (hypothesis 7c); the similarity will be lower under conditions of higher rejection (hypothesis 7d), and higher conflict (hypothesis 7e). No hypothesis was formulated for parental control. Furthermore, it is expected that parental agreement on each specific value enhance the similarities between parents and children (hypothesis 8). Also, the extent of transmission of values from parents to children is expected to increases under conditions of similarity in the perception of social change (social life and uncertainty) within each of the four dyads (hypothesis 9). Altogether, the moderation effects were not strong and not very systematic. Nevertheless, when compared to the direct transmission (see 6.4.1), greater transmission of values from parents to offspring took place by taking parenting as moderator variables into account. All four moderator variables studied here played an important role in the transmission process, depending on the value transmitted and on the dyad studied. Interestingly, while the direct effects of parenting and relationship quality were found for collectivism and interdependent self-construal (see 6.4.2), here the moderator effects occur mainly with regard to individualism and independent self-construal. This transmission took place predominately in the father-daughter dyads. As a reminder a successful parent-to-child transmission of values is interpreted when a positive relation between values/self-construal of the parents and the values/self-construal of the children occur. Besides expected moderation effects, some “negative” transmissions occurred. This suggests that the moderator strengthened a negative relation between the parental value and the child’s value. Two forms can be differentiated here: (a) When a positive value relation occurs,
160 Chapter 7. Discussion e.g., for the medium or high acceptant fathers, the transmission is still moderated in the expected direction although the more negative direction in the low moderator group is dominating; (b) When a negative value relation occurs for the medium or high acceptant fathers, the transmission is “negative” (i.e., the moderator hinders the transmission). In the following, the results of the moderation analyses will be discussed along with each moderator. Parenting Style. Strong moderator effects for the transmission of independent self- construal were found in the father-daughter dyads. In the groups of high and medium acceptant fathers and in the groups of low and medium rejecting fathers a positive relation between the independent self-construl of fathers and of daughters was found. These two findings are in line with other studies (e.g., Cashmore & Goodnow, 1985; Darling & Steinberg, 1993; Rohan & Zanna, 1996; Schoenpflug, 2001). The transmission of individualism from fathers to sons was moderated by acceptance in a negative way. However, as described above, a positive relation between fathers’ and sons’ individualism occurred in the groups of higher acceptant fathers, otherwise not significant. As expected, under condition of warmth/acceptance, the motivation of children to attend to parents’ values increased. The negative emotional responses associated with high rejection may reduce adolescents’ attention to their parents’ messages and lead to a failure of transmission. In the mother-son dyads, it was found that in those groups of higher rejecting mothers, the interdependent self-construal of mothers was positively related to the interdependent self- construal of sons. One explanation is provided by the acceptance-rejection theory suggesting that rejected children make effort to get approval from their parents (Rohner, 2002). Similarly, Knafo and Schwartz (2003) found a positive relationship between love withdrawal and accuracy of perception in the father-son dyad. Although the authors did not yet test the influence of this variable on the acceptance of the values, we can speculate that such a relation is likely for acceptance of values as well. No specific effects were expected for control. Inverse value relation between daughters and fathers occurred with respect to individualism in dyads with low control by father. The relation of individualism between daughters and fathers was positive in the group of high controlling fathers, but not significant. Similarly, under conditions of low control from mother, the interdependent self-construal of mothers is negatively related to that of their daughters. Parallel to the result described above, the relation between mothers’ and adolescents’
Chapter 7. Discussion 161 interdependent self-construal scores is positive. Exercising control over the children’s behavior may lead to different outcomes, an aspect that depends on cultural norms and expectations (Trommsdorff & Kornadt, 2003). It seems that Romanian adolescents do not perceive the controlling behavior of their parents in a negative way. On the contrary, it seems that parental control encourages transmission of certain values between generations in the Romanian sample. Relationship Quality. A successful transmission of independent self-construal from fathers to daughters takes place in the groups of high and medium admiration from fathers as well as in the groups of low and medium level of conflicts with fathers. Albert (2007) found that admiration from mothers increases the transmission of collectivism in the mother-child dyads, but not individualism. Perhaps admiration from father as compared to mother has a different meaning and affects the transmission of different aspects. For example, Barber, Stolz and Olsen (2005) showed that fathers played a more dominant role in the domain of social initiative of their children as compared to mothers. The transmission of individualism from fathers to sons was moderated by conflicts in a negative way. Similar to the results for acceptance (see above), a positive relation between fathers’ and sons’ individualism occurred in the groups of low and medium conflict. In the group of high conflict, the transmission is not only hindered but also reversed. Parents’ actual agreement. Under conditions of high and medium parental agreement on the values of collectivism, collectivism of mothers was transmitted further to their daughters. Similarly, under conditions of high agreement between mother and father on interdependent self- construal, a positive relation occurred between interdependent self-construal of fathers and of sons. These two findings suggest that in case of agreement between parents, the transmission occur in the same-gender dyads. Cashmore and Goodnow (1985) also found that the level of agreement between parents predicted mother-child and father-child agreement on important qualities for children to develop (e.g., “is obedient”, “has a good imagination”) and occupational aspirations. Mother-father agreement is an indicator of harmony and cohesion within the family (Minuchin, 1985), and increases the clearness and understandability of parental messages that makes more likely for the children not only to accurately perceive their values (Knafo & Schwartz, 2003), but also to adopt the parents’ values (Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman, 1981).
162 Chapter 7. Discussion
Parent-child similarity in the perception of social change. When fathers and daughters have similar views on the changes regarding the social life of the post-communist Romania, the independent self-construal and the collectivist values of the father are transmitted further to the daughter. Interestingly, the perception of uncertainty from the side of parents and children had no moderating effects on the transmission. Apparently, through its content the dimension of social change has more relevance and is more related to the values studied here. Further studies should investigate the nature of such influences, also considering the gender-specific dyads. Negative Transmission. An unexpected negative relation between interdependent self- construal of daughters and of father was found in groups of medium and high intimacy with fathers. Examining the extent of transmission from mothers to children in a German sample, Albert (2007) found that an intimate relationship with mothers enhance the transmission of collectivistic and family values. As suggested above, intimacy with fathers may play a different role. Studies have shown that fathers in generally have a more important role during the period of separation and individuation that their children go through during adolescence (Shulman & Seiffge-Krenke, 1997). Although it speaks against what was expected here, it is possible that an intimate relationship with the fathers may encourage the daughters to experience separateness, instead of identifying themselves with their fathers. To summarize, the analyses of the moderators of transmission of values and self-construal have been shown to be meaningful in the current study. Except for intimacy, each of the moderators showed some significant effects on the transmission. Thus, all hypotheses (7a-7e, 8, and 9) except hypothesis 7b were partly confirmed. The ways these moderators operate depend on the particular parent-child dyad. Overall, under consideration of moderator variables, fathers’ values had a stronger impact on the children’s values, especially on those of daughters, and with respect to the independent self-construal and individualistic values. If mothers are involved in transmission, then values of collectivism or interdependent self-construal are involved. It can be concluded for this study that fathers were more responsible for instrumental domains (e.g., assertiveness and independence), whereas mothers encourages domains such as manners and politeness.
Chapter 7. Discussion 163
Intergenerational gap
The shift from communism to democracy, from centrally planned to market economy and generally the existence of numerous choices regarding the way of living gave rise to new values in the modernized Romania (e.g., Frost & Frost, 2000; Sacara & Iacob, 2002; Smith et al., 1996). The present study analyzed whether the two generations (middle-aged adults and adolescents) differ in the evaluation of values of collectivism and individualism as well as in the self- construal. Two hypotheses were tested in this study: It was expected that the older generation emphasizes on collectivistic values more strongly than the younger, and the younger generation is more individualistic than the older generation (hypothesis 4). Further, it was hypothesized that parents show higher interdependence and lower independence in their self-construal as compared to adolescents (hypothesis 5). As expected and in line with studies done by Inglehart (1990, 1997), the results showed that the older as compared to the younger generation preferred more collectivistic and less individualistic values. Similarly, the parents’ generation showed a stronger interdependent self- construal while the children generation a stronger independent self-construal. Thus, the hypotheses concerning “generational gap” in values and self-construal received clear support in this study. Similar findings are reported in other studies, which focused on differences between the generations and particularly with respect to the values of individualism/collectivism. These studies have been conducted in Germany and France (Albert, 2007), in the U.S. (Bengtson, 1975), and in former GDR (Boehnke, 2001). Thus, such differences even occurred in countries without dramatic change, but rather gradual changes (Pinquart et al., 2004). Therefore, the historical situation of the change or more specifically the assumption that peers may have a stronger influence in changing societies should not be overemphasized when explaining the generation gap. Alternatively, it can be argued, that such generation gap can be expected since the two generations examined do not share the same historical and socialization background (cf. Mannheim, 1929/1964). Besides explaining the results from such a sociological perspective, these intergenerational differences can also be interpreted using a developmental approach. Such differences may be indicative of different stages in the individual life cycle and the related experiences. The variance explained by generation membership was much larger for the self-construal scales as compared to the values of individualism/collectivism. This comparison suggests that the
164 Chapter 7. Discussion strongest “generation gap” is located in the self-construal. Furthermore, interesting interactions between generation and gender occurred. Fathers as compared to mothers seem to be closer in their individualist values and independent self- construal to the adolescent generation. No difference was found between individualism of fathers and of boys. Moreover, although significantly lower than adolescents, the independent self- construal of the fathers is significantly higher than that of mothers. That fathers differ in independent self-construal from mothers and are more similar to the sons with respect to individualism might be a feature of a still very traditional society where the father represent the relationship to the outside world and the mother symbolizes the family. Interestingly, the highest values for individualism and independent self-construal were found among adolescent girls. Although no hypotheses predicted it in this direction, one would expect that female participants are more similar to each other in their ratings due to the traditional status of women in Romania, and to the differences in the socialization of girl and boys (Pasti, 2003). The question here is, why did girls rate individualism and independence more important than boys? Being in a more disadvantaged position on the market economy (as a consequence of the traditional roles and the dissolution of the so-called equal rights of men and women characteristics for communist system), girls may turn out to be more aggressive in their behaviors (Trommsdorff & Kornadt, 1995). Perhaps the next step needed for girls is to become more self- reliant and independent, which can be a useful strategy to help them face the new challenges in a democratic system but with residual communist attitudes (Betea, 2001). In fact, also other studies conducted with Romanian adolescents showed similar findings with regard to differences between boys and girls (Sacara & Iacob, 2002; Nurmi, Liiceanu, & Liberska, 1999). The collectivist scale was developed from items of Schwartz’ (1992) conservation dimension consisting of security, conformity and tradition values (see chapter 5.2.1). The individualist scale corresponds to openness to change dimension, composed of self-direction, stimulation, and hedonism. Thus, it proved worthwhile to look at the single items from the individualist and the collectivist scale in the present study in order to see a more detailed picture. An interesting picture was revealed when analyzing two items from the self-direction value as part of the individualist broader value: with respect to freedom and independence, no differences between younger and older generation appear. On the contrary, adult men attributed stronger importance to these values than adolescent boys. Parents’ generation may score so high on these
Chapter 7. Discussion 165 values, because these values were maximally suppressed in the communist system. Moreover, among collectivist values, the value of obedience is least emphasized by both generations, again with minimal differences between younger and older participants. A similar interpretation applies here as well: the imposed collectivism during communism expecting from the people to be obedient to the state without questioning seem to have scared people’ s value system and, consequently, made them reject obedience. Probably the use of more differentiated instruments might reveal a more comprehensive picture when comparing individualism/collectivism among different generations. As showed here, it is very likely that generations are different in the importance that they attributed to individualism/collectivism as global dimensions. Perhaps their evaluation/judgments of some subcategories of individualism/collectivism might be more alike and in more accordance with the new Zeitgeist (Boehnke, 2001) In terms of bi-directionality, as suggested by Kuczynski (2003), one can assume that the new values and orientation of the younger generations will in turn influence the wider socio- cultural context, not only themselves. Even more, it is very likely that their own parents are also interested in some domains in which children do better than they do (e.g., computer matters, a precondition for getting or maintaining a job today). Another issue addressed in the current work refers to the independence of the two constructs examined here: individualism-collectivism and self-construal. It was found that individualistic and collectivistic values are not related to each other in the adolescent sample. In contrast, they are positively related in the parent sample. Furthermore, no relation between the independent self-construal and the interdependent self-construal was found, except for mothers. These results partly support the idea advanced by Kagitcibasi (1996a, 1996b) and Reykowski (1994), who criticized the issue of bipolarity, that social change can lead to a blending of both value types. With respect to the self-construal, Kagitcibasi (1996a, 1996b) proposed the “autonomous-related self” that develops in the “family model of emotional interdependence”. According to her perspective, the autonomous-related self is mainly found in countries confronted with social changes and modernization processes. Parents stress both autonomy and emotional interdependence in childrearing. Similarly, Ispa (2002) speaks in favor of the existence of both types of values within one individual.
166 Chapter 7. Discussion
Further, the relation between individualism and the independent self-construal and between collectivism and interdependent self-construal, as many cross-cultural studies have shown (Triandis, 1994), was partially confirmed in the current Romanian study. More specifically, for the adolescents a highly positive relation was found for individualism and independent self- construal on the one side and collectivism and interdependent self-construal on the other side. For parents, only the relation between collectivism and interdependent self-construal was significant, but not between individualism and independent self-construal. This may be due to the wording change of the items in the self-construal instrument. In the original instrument (Singelis, 1994), the items are formulated as referring to “people around me”, or “my group”, whereas in this current study “the family” was used as the point of reference. Therefore, the findings suggest that it is possible that older generations value certain aspects of individualism but they do not necessarily see themselves as separate from the family and willing to give priority to their personal goals and needs over those of the family. As shown by Orheanu (2004) and Steriade (1983), the older generations are very much family-focused. It is possible that with the original wording of the items a higher correlation would have been reached between individualism and independence for the mothers as well. The findings of this study underscore the existence of a “generation gap” concerning the values of individualism/collectivism as well as self-construal. This analysis treated parents and adolescents as two independent groups
Social change: Generation and gender differences
Studies on social change have showed that older generations as compared to younger generations perceive the changes in the new society more negatively (e.g., Noack et al, 1997). Moreover, adult women and adolescent girls as compared to adult men and adolescent boys have a more pessimistic view of the society (Macek et al., 1998). Therefore, it was hypothesized for the current study that parents perceive stronger changes toward uncertainty and worsening of social life than children (hypothesis 1). Further, it was expected that female participants (mothers and daughters) perceive stronger changes for worse than male participants (fathers and sons) (hypothesis 2). The expected differences between generations were found for both variables (uncertainty and social Life). Thus, hypothesis 1 was confirmed. The hypothesis of female participants being
Chapter 7. Discussion 167 more sensitive to changes as compared to males (hypothesis 2) was partly supported: mothers and daughters reported stronger uncertainty than fathers and sons, but no gender effect was found for perceiving a worsening of social life. One important explanation of the findings concerning differences in experiencing social change by different generations might be due to the fact that children, as opposed to parents, are not committed to certain jobs or career paths. Therefore, they are open to planning their career in accordance to the new demands of the market economy (Betea, 2001). In line with other studies (Macek et al., 1998; Macek & Kostron, 1996; Pasti, 2003), the current study also found that mothers and girls perceived higher uncertainty in the society than fathers and boys; girls are generally more sensitive in their evaluations of social issues than boys and; men emphasize personal initiative and independence more than women, which might better prepare them to cope with competition and novel situations in a market-type economy. Moreover, the role division between men and women in Romania is rather conservative (Pasti, 2003). Therefore, it is possible that the chances women have on the new job market such as to start a new business are smaller and not in agreement with their husbands’ traditional expectations. That women perceive more aggressiveness and crimes in the society may be also because that they spent more time watching TV than men (especially Romanian channels) where crimes and robberies are shown as a daily routine (Pasti, 2003). Additionally, both parents and children reported higher scores for uncertainty in the society as compared to the worsening of social life. These findings are in line with other studies (Noack et al, 1997; Macek et al., 1998). Considering the ratings on a scale from 1 to 5, where the value “3” reflects no change compared to the situation before 1989, parents and children rated all the uncertainty items (with one single exception) with values above four (4 = more today). This indicates that aspects like unpredictability and insecurity of the future, crime and aggressiveness, and financial discrepancy among people have increased in people’s lives since the upheaval for parents and during the last 5 years for children (before the data collection). What seems to have changed the most in the negative direction is the unequal distribution of financial resources; the mean of the item “the amount of income and property varies a lot between people in Romania” was very close to the maximum possible score for all groups, except girls. These answers do not only reflect subjective perceptions but can also be seen as descriptions of the real conditions in the Romanian society, where the income differences are strongly growing.
168 Chapter 7. Discussion
The fact that the adolescents also are sensitive to the issue of financial discrepancies among people may appear due to the shared experiences within the family and the specific financial situation. This interpretation is supported by the significant correlations of uncertainty found between fathers and sons, and also between mothers and daughters. Another explanation is related to the strong interest of the Romanian teenagers, together with teenagers from other East European countries, in having money and fame as some studies have showed (e.g., Nurmi, Liiceanu, & Liberska, 1999). The young generation in the former communist countries developed unrealistic high expectations regarding their future in terms of money mainly based on images vehiculated by the mass media but also through the experiences they make in the school when dealing with peers coming from very rich families or the so-called nouveau riches. Compared to uncertainty scale, the scores for social life were closer to value “3” (“no change”) for parents and children, suggesting that most subjects do not perceive major changes in the way people care about one another and see their community as a cohesive place. Nevertheless, parents perceived a significant worsening of social life compared to the adolescents. One explanation for the parents’ negative perception might be related to the stronger self-focused orientation that arose after 1989 as a consequence of the competitive market economy. Many work places were dissolved and it happened often that colleagues, who used to be friends before suddenly were forced to compete for the same job. Today, people invest more time in working (and making money) and consequently paying less attention to friends, children, neighbors, and other people whom they know and were close to before (Ispa, 2002). Analyzing the specific items of the social life scale it seems that the interest of people for children was largely unchanged. This finding is consistent with a study that showed a strong family orientation of Romanian parents and adolescents today (Orheanu, 2001; Orheanu, 2004, July). These findings underscore the understanding of adolescence as a formative period for global orientations concerning the social world (cf. Steinberg, 1993). Adolescents’ openness may facilitate an approach to the new system and help them view it as new challenges and opportunities, rather than strains. It should be noted that the judgments of the young people were not positive in absolute terms, but they were clearly less pessimistic than parental perceptions.
Correlates of the social change
Many studies have showed the harmful effect of abrupt social changes on the family relations and adolescent adjustment (Conger & Elder, 1994; Elder, 1974; Silbereisen & Zinnecker, 1999).
Chapter 7. Discussion 169
Hypothesis 3 predicted a negative relation between increasing changes for worse (higher scores for uncertainty and lower scores for social life) on the one side and parent-child relationship quality (lower intimacy, lower admiration, higher conflict), parenting (lower acceptance, higher control, higher rejection), and life satisfaction on the other side as reported by both parents and children. It was found that fathers who perceived high uncertainty in the society behaved more controlling toward their sons. At the same time, fathers’ perception of positive changes in the domain of social life was related to stronger acceptance toward sons. Contrary to our expectation, high uncertainty mothers reported being more acceptant toward their sons. Also, those boys who perceived an increase in the uncertainty existing in the society reported lower intimacy with their fathers. In contrast, an improvement in the social life as perceived by boys was associated with stronger intimacy between fathers and sons. For girls, positive changes for social life were associated with lower conflicts with the mother, higher intimacy with the mother, and higher acceptance from both mother and father. Although highly interesting, these results are difficult to interpret, since it is not known what the direction of the influence is: either from the perception of social change to family relationships or from family relationships to the perception of social change. As Trommsdorff and Chakkarath (1996) suggested, close psychosocial bonds between family members could be seen as an important resource in coping with new demands. Similarly, a good relationship quality in the family fosters sons’ and daughters’ feelings of control in their lives (Schneewind, Walper, & Graf, in press). Future studies should examine these aspects more in depth. Further findings revealed the importance of satisfaction with different life domains for the perception of societal change. Satisfaction with health and work make mothers see the relations among people as more positive. Girls that are more satisfied with family, friends, health, and school perceive the social relation as more optimistic. These results are in line with other studies, which examined the subjective perception of social change (Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2004).
Limitations, future perspective and conclusions
According to the theoretical framework outlined in this work, some processes of transmission and contextual conditions are conceptualized as having a causal relationship. Due to the cross- sectional design of the current study, no causal relations could be tested. All results reported here
170 Chapter 7. Discussion should be seen in this light. In order to test such causal relations, a longitudinal study would be a better approach. A longitudinal study would not only allow testing causal effects but also testing stability and changes of values within individuals. As mentioned in the introduction, transmission in the sense of a process where parents get “something across” can only be studied in longitudinal research where researchers follow carefully the process of value socialization (Boehnke, 2001). Cross-sectional studies rather show value (in)congruence among parents and children at a certain time in history and reflect a particular phase in the life cycle of the participants. Up to now, little is known about such age-related changes of values over time and how the extent of parent-child transmission change as a function of age (of parents and of children) Another limitation of the current study is related to how value transmission was studied here. The main focus was on value similarity. By this it is implicitly assumed that all parents want that the children overtake and share their own values. This assumption might be wrong, especially in times of abrupt social change as is the case of the country examined here. Even without such strong changes, some parents may prefer that their offspring adapt to the current norms that may differ from their personal norms (see Friedlmeier, Schaefermeier, Vasconcellos, & Trommsdorff, 2008). However, research on value socialization reveals that parents generally want their children to hold values similar to their own. Parents’ own values correlate highly with their socialization values, in other words the values that they want to see in their children (e.g., Whitbeck & Gecas, 1988). Nevertheless, such a distinction would have increased the clarity of the results of this work. In studies on value transmission, especially those involving countries going through enormous social changes, it would be particularly interesting to see not only how parents have an impact on their offspring, as it was the case of the current study, but also how children influence their parents, also with regard to changes in child’s age. Perhaps with increased age (and automatically increase in power and status) children have a stronger impact on their parents. However, for such a study, a wide range in age would be necessary. Also, having conducted this transmission research in only one culture (Romania), it limits the validity of the findings. The results might be typical only of this particular cultural context and cannot be applied to other countries and cultures. Cross-national and cross-cultural studies are strongly needed in this area of studies.
Chapter 7. Discussion 171
Although it has been attempted by the author to psychologically measure the impact of social change on the value transmission from parents to children, the way this was done was not optimal. Future studies should look into these aspects more precisely. The range of values was rather limited and the values under study were rather abstract. A broader range of values including more concrete values may be used in future studies in order to get a better insight into the transmission processes. It is possible that stronger similarities between parents and children exist when examining more concrete and salient values and beliefs, such as religious and political values, as shown by some studies (e.g., Jennings & Niemi, 1968). Since the design of this study was a cross-sectional one, it would be interesting to conduct further analyses in order to test the influence of a third variable often called cultural stereotype or zeitgeist that determines the values of both parents and offspring (see p. 72). It is intended by the author to conduct such analyses. Although the current sample size was large enough to have sufficient power for testing the research hypotheses, the sample itself was not a representative one. Systematic random sampling was not possible for this study for practical reasons. Therefore, these results cannot be generalized for this specific Romanian region or for the whole country. It is known that important economic and cultural differences between Moldavia, where our study was conducted, and Transylvania exist, not only during the history, but also after 1989. Studies with larger samples are needed in order to be able to generalize the findings. Most of the instruments reached satisfying internal consistencies. Some measures yielded problems. Especially the internal consistencies for measuring Social Change within the adolescent sample were rather low. One scale could not be used at all (see 5.2.5). For future study, some pilot testing of the instruments might be helpful for increasing the reliability and validity of instruments before carrying out another major study. In spite of these limitations, the current study accomplished several goals and contributes with new knowledge to the existing research literature. A few conclusions can be drawn from the present study: First, the main goal was to analyze the transmission of values in three ways: direct, indirect, and as a moderated process. The direct transmission only occurred in the collectivist value and was low. The parenting dimensions and the relationship quality showed strong relations with adolescents’ values. These tests were carried out in an explorative way. An accepting and
172 Chapter 7. Discussion supportive parent and a positive relationship (intimacy and admiration) encourage the child to appreciate collectivist values, to give priority to the family over other purposes and feel themselves as strongly related to their family. This was especially apparent for daughters. It is worthwhile to take this process more into account for future theoretical models of transmission. The moderation effect showed a different picture. Here, mostly individualism and independent self-construal were affected. In general, the study demonstrates that the transmission of values in the family is a complex process and psychologists only have begun to understand the mechanisms and the processes involved. One can not expect a complete value transmission from parents to their children, since other socialization agents may also play a crucial part. More studies are needed before the processes can be highlighted by which of the child’s conditions in home, in school, and in direct or indirect experiences of the larger social context come to shape the child’s values and developmental directions. Second, a generation gap regarding the values and the self-construal was found. This was less surprising because such differences are even shown in countries without strong social changes. Therefore, in Romania, it was expected. Third, it was demonstrated that the social change affects parent and child generation in different ways. Furthermore, it was shown that psychological characteristics (good family relationships and high life satisfaction) are an important psychological resource in order to perceive strong social changes less negatively. Also, the perception of social change moderated the transmission of values and self-construal in certain dyads. As a general conclusion, it can be assumed that both generational differences and the family differences support the prospect of broader social change. From a socialization perspective, these findings can be regarded as a bilateral process: parents and children learn from each other in the context of a continuously changing society.
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Appendix
Table 1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of the Sample
Variables Mothers Fathers Children Boys Girls
Number of participants (n) 100 100 48 52 Age (M/SD) 42.78 (4.40) 45.71 (4.69) 15.5 (1.1) Employment rate (%) 90 100 - Education level (%) vocational 24 30 - high school 60 51 - university 16 19 -
Table 2. Correlations Between Sociodemographic Variables for Mothers
Number of Children Mothers’ age Family economic status1 Values Correlation Correlation Correlation
Cultural Orientation Individualism -.18+ -.27** .10 Collectivism .08 -.03 .14 Self-Construal Independence -.07 -.08 .12 Interdependence -.03 .08 -.12
+p < .10; **p < .01 Notes: 1) Family economic status had to be rated on a 5-point scale from 1 (low) to 5 (upper)
188 Appendix
Table 3. Effects of Educational Level of Mothers on their own Values
Complementary High-School University F Comparisons School (n = 48) (n = 16) (n = 36) Variables1 M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) df (2/97) 1/2 1/3 2/3
Cultural
Orientation Individualism 3.42 (.73) 3.79 (.63) 3.70 (.51) 3.26* *
Collectivism 4.35 (.44) 4.51 (.36) 4.19 (.53) 3.94* *
Self-Construal Independence 2.71 (.95) 2.87 (.88) 3.14 (.63) 1.33 Interdependence 4.67 (.39) 4.71 (.33) 4.56 (.28) 1.05
*p < .05. Notes: 1) All the values were rated on a scale ranging from 1 = not important at all to 5 = very important.
Table 4. Correlations Between Sociodemographic Variables for Fathers
Number of children Fathers’ age Family economic status1 Fathers’ values
Cultural Orientation Individualism -.07 -.06 .23* Collectivism .22* .06 .18+ Self-Construal Independence -.18+ .07 .08 Interdependence .05 -.02 -.05
+p < .10; *p < .05; **p < .01. Notes: 1) Family economic status was rated on a 5-point scale from 1 (low) to 5 (upper)
Appendix 189
Table 5. Effects of Educational Level of Fathers on Their Values
Complementary High-School University F Single School (n = 30) (n = 19) Comparisons (n = 51) Variables1 M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) df (2/97) 1/2 1/3 2/3
Cultural
Orientation Individualism 3.69 (.56) 3.92 (.66) 3.98 (.52) 2.40+ Collectivism 4.47 (.45) 4.30 (.45) 4.53 (.54) 1.74 Self-Construal Independence 3.16 (1.05) 3.23 (.72) 3.19 (.84) 0.07 Interdependence 4.71 (.32) 4.54 (.57) 4.42 (.58) 3.16* +
+p < .10; *p < .05. Notes: 1) All the values were rated on a scale ranging from 1 = not important at all to 5 = very important; ns = not significant.
Table 6. Correlations for Sociodemographic Variables for Children
Number of siblings Children’s age Family economic status1 Children’s Values
Cultural Orientation Individualism -.14 .06 .16 Collectivism .17+ -.19* .09 Self-Construal Independence -.05 -.12 -.02 Interdependence .01 -.06 .21*
+p < .10; *p < .05. Notes: 1) Family economic status had to be rated on a 5-point scale from 1 (low) to 5 (upper)
190 Appendix
Table 7. Effects of Educational Level of Mothers on Adolescents’ Values
Complementary High-School University F School (n = 48) (n = 16) (n = 36) Variables1 M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) df (2/97)
Cultural
Orientation Individualism 4.14 (.62) 4.07 (.54) 4.29 (.38) 0.97 Collectivism 4.25 (.55) 4.17 (.56) 3.93 (.61) 1.79 Self-Construal Independence 4.03 (.71) 4.03 (.68) 4.11 (.54) 0.09 Interdependence 4.00 (.72) 3.74 (.74) 3.75 (.49) 1.49
Notes: 1) All the values were rated on a scale ranging from 1 = not important at all to 5 = very important.
Table 8. Effects of Educational Level of Fathers on Adolescents’ Values
Complementary High-School University F Single School (n = 30) (n = 19) Comparisons (n = 51) Variables1 M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) df (2/97) 1/2 1/3 2/3
Cultural
Orientation Individualism 4.12 (.54) 4.00 (.59) 4.35 (.45) 2.43+ + Collectivism 4.15 (.59) 4.12 (.58) 4.25 (.53) 0.31 Self-Construal Independence 4.12 (.64) 3.83 (.74) 4.18 (.56) 2.48+ Interdependence 3.76 (.75) 3.88 (.61) 3.97 (.72) 0.68
+p < .10. Notes: 1) All the values were rated on a scale ranging from 1 = not important at all to 5 = very important.